List 3.7 Vocabulary

DISSONANCE

• Definition: Sound designed or experienced (and potentially praised or criticized) as startling, un-harmonic, disruptive, unpredictable.
  Usage: The dissonance of the experimental music, with its jarring tones and unpredictable shifts, merged with the relentless din of industrial noise outside, creating a soundscape both mesmerizing and maddening.

DIN

• Definition: Loud, prolonged, reverberating sound or “noise,” most often non-musical. and alarming.
  Usage: The dissonance of the experimental music, with its jarring tones and unpredictable shifts, merged with the relentless din of industrial noise outside, creating a soundscape both mesmerizing and maddening.

CLAMOR

• Definition: Strongly and persistently protest and beseech/beg.
  Usage: The city's cacophony of car horns, police sirens, and construction noise created a sense of overwhelming clamor from the people who live in the city.

CACOPHONY

• Definition: Sound experienced as unpleasantly, even painfully chaotic and alarming.
  Usage: The city's cacophony of car horns, police sirens, and construction noise created a sense of overwhelming clamor from the people who live in the city.

EUPHONY

• Definition: Sound experienced as pleasantly harmonious and
  well coordinated.
  Usage: The background music in Lana Del Rey’s songs masterfully creates euphony through the smooth cadence of sweeping strings and mellow synths, wrapping each track in a dreamy, nostalgic haze.

STRIDENT

• Definition: Intensely, "shrilly" and harshly demanding and vocal – often irritatingly and narrow-mindedly so.
  Usage: Elle Wood’s strident voice echoed through the courtroom, as she passionately defended her best friend Brooke Windham against the false allegations of her murdering her father.

SONOROUS

• Definition: Loud, deep, and resonant.
  Usage: The Weeknd’s lilting, sonorous vocals drifted through the concert hall, blending smooth falsetto with rich undertones to create a sound both ethereal and emotionally resonant — as in "Earned It," where each note sways with graceful intensity and haunting depth.

CADENCE

• Definition: Brief, distinctive rhythmic pattern (or way of 'falling out') of notes or speech.
  Usage: The background music in Lana Del Rey’s songs masterfully creates euphony through the smooth cadence of sweeping strings and mellow synths, wrapping each track in a dreamy, nostalgic haze.

LILTING

• Definition: Moving in a rhythm that is buoyant, varied, 'swinging' and
  'uplifting' in effect.
  Usage: The Weeknd’s lilting, sonorous vocals drifted through the concert hall, blending smooth falsetto with rich undertones to create a sound both ethereal and emotionally resonant — as in "Earned It," where each note sways with graceful intensity and haunting depth.

SIBILANT

• Definition: Cueing or making a 'hissing' sound.
  Usage: The sibilant whisper of the wind through the reeds created an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

HALTING

• Definition: Abruptly stopping-and-starting, or hobbling or limping.
  Usage: The old record player produced a halting rhythm while playing, skipping and jumping as it struggled to play the damaged vinyl.

LYRICISM

• Definition: 'Song-like,' melodic, emotionally exuberant expressiveness implemented in poetry, prose, and music - especially music performance.
  Usage: Lana Del Rey’s music is admired not just for its vintage aesthetic but for the haunting lyricism and eclectic soundscapes that paint vivid scenes of love, loss, and longing. Blending poetic imagery with melancholic narratives, she transforms emotional vulnerability into a cinematic experience that feels both timeless and deeply personal.

ELEGIAC

• Definition: Conveying a sound and/or message evoking or evocative of
  mourning and remembrance.
  Usage: The elegiac poem solemnly commemorated the passing of a revered leader, eloquently encapsulating the nation’s collective sorrow and profound sense of loss through its mournful cadence and evocative imagery.

ECELETIC

• Definition: Many markedly distinct types.
  Usage: Lana Del Rey’s music is admired not just for its vintage aesthetic but for the haunting lyricism and eclectic soundscapes that paint vivid scenes of love, loss, and longing. Blending poetic imagery with melancholic narratives, she transforms emotional vulnerability into a cinematic experience that feels both timeless and deeply personal.

REPERTOIRE

• Definition: The 'always-ready-to-play' collection/stock of plays, parts, songs, recipes that a "performer" could execute with little-to-no notice .
  Usage: Tyler, the Creator has built an eclectic repertoire that spans abrasive rap, jazzy soul, and experimental funk, showcasing his evolution from rebellious provocateur to visionary artist unafraid to blur genre boundaries.

OBFUSCATE

• Definition: To attempt to conceal or 'keep in the dark' something (or some viewer of something) through distraction, obstruction, or confusion.
  Usage: In an effort to efface the controversies surrounding his personal life, the artist released a deeply introspective album whose layered lyrics and abstract melodies seemed designed to obfuscate rather than reveal, leaving listeners to interpret the meaning behind the music on their own.

EFFACE

• Definition: To erase, clean or obscure by rubbing or striking out.
  Usage: In an effort to efface the controversies surrounding his personal life, the artist released a deeply introspective album whose layered lyrics and abstract melodies seemed designed to obfuscate rather than reveal, leaving listeners to interpret the meaning behind the music on their own.

EXPUNGE

• Definition: To intentionally or 'effectively' cross out, eliminate, cancel, or counteract some previously documented record or 'ingrained' impression.
  Usage: The court ordered to expunge the criminal record of the wrongly accused person, giving them a fresh start in life.

LIQUIDATE

• Definition: To sell off property to convert its value into easily exchangeable "cash."
  Usage: The struggling enterprise was compelled to liquidate its assets in a last-ditch effort to satisfy its escalating financial obligations—for example, during the 2008 financial crisis, Lehman Brothers was forced into liquidation after declaring bankruptcy, marking one of the largest collapses in U.S. history.

ESCHEW

• Definition: To abstain from or avoid.
  Usage: Those who suffer from diabetes or are on the pre-diabetic track should eschew sugary or highly processed foods and drinks especially gummy candy and soda.

PREROGATIVE

• Definition: A 'special privilege' that is commonly associated with, or assumed by, or tolerated in members of some social subgroup -- but tabooed for or offensive to many outsiders. 
  Usage:It is within the exclusive constitutional prerogative of the president to exercise the power of veto over legislation enby Congress—for instance, President Andrew Johnson famously vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, though Congress later overrode his veto.

DEIGN

• Definition: To loftily condescend towards.
  Usage: The duchess would never deign to eat at such crude restaurants such as Cracker Barrel. Instead she would eat at high-end restaurants such as Nobu. 

MAXIM

• Definition: A concisely expressed, highly memorable general principle or rule of conduct.
  Usage: "Look before you leap" is a maxim that can prevent careless mistakes.