Cacophony
Pronounced kuh-KOF-uh-nee.
Cacophony: A harsh, discordant clatter of sounds used deliberately to make a passage feel ugly or violent.
When the subject is noise, breakage or war, writers cram a line with hard clashing consonants so the reader's mouth has to fight through it.
Cacophony examples
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! / The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!"
— Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll
"Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle / Can patter out their hasty orisons."
— Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen
"The skip lorry clanged, ground its gears, and juddered off through the roadworks."
— original example
"Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."
— Lycidas, John Milton
Spot the Cacophony
Score: 0/0A harsh, discordant clatter of sounds used deliberately to make a passage feel ugly or violent.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! / The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!"
Which work is this from?
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Cacophony: common questions
What is cacophony in literature?
A harsh, discordant clatter of sounds used deliberately to make a passage feel ugly or violent. When the subject is noise, breakage or war, writers cram a line with hard clashing consonants so the reader's mouth has to fight through it.
What is an example of cacophony?
A classic example is "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! / The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" (Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll).
What is the difference between cacophony and euphony?
They are opposites: cacophony deliberately sounds harsh (clashing plosives - 'the jaws that bite, the claws that catch'), euphony deliberately sounds smooth (long vowels and soft consonants - 'the murmuring of innumerable bees').
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