caco-, cac-, kako-, kak-

(Greek: bad, harsh, wrong, evil; incorrect; unpleasant; poor; used most of the time as a prefix)

cacophonic (adjective), more cacophonic, most cacophonic
A reference to the use of harsh and unpleasant sounds or vulgar language: The author was criticized for using some cacophonic language in his novel.

Sometimes when people utter cocophonic words on TV, such expressions are obviously deleted before the listening audience is exposed to them.

cacophonical (adjective), more cacophonical, most cacophonical
Descriptive of the unpleasantness of the sounds of certain words, phrases, and sentences: There are some people who have no regard for the feelings of other people as demonstrated by their cacophonical ways of talking.
cacophonist (s) (noun), cacophonists (pl)
Someone who tends to use a combination of loud and often jarring words or sounds: When Jacob was delivering his political speech, a woman from the audience interrupted him with a critical comment and as a result, he lost his temper and suddenly became a cacophonist who yelled at her to sit down and to shut up!

The members of the orchestra were a bunch of cacophonists producing a lot of racket as they were individually tuning their musical instruments before the conductor started rehearsing.

A boy playing his violin, a dog, and a cat together represent a group cacophonists.
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The boy trying to play his violin, his dog, and the cat on the roof of the house next door; all illustrate a group of cacophonists.

cacophonize (noun), cacophonizes; cacophonized; cacophonizing
To make harsh or bad sounds: Using an untuned piano and a toy horn, Henry cacophonized while sitting on the balcony overlooking a peaceful lake, upsetting others who were in apartments nearby.
cacophonophilist (s) (noun), cacophonophilists (pl)
Someone who likes to listen to harsh or loud sounds: Many people of the older generation suspect that teenagers are really cacophonophilists who use their earphones and iPods to listen to intensive and excessive musical sounds.
cacophonous (adjective), more cacophonous, most cacophonous
1. Having an overly loud or unpleasant sound: Tracy's cat is very sensitive to the more cacophonous sounds that she hears on the TV; especially, the boat whistles.
2. Sounding loud, jarring, and unpleasant: Cleo suddenly woke up to a cacophonous noise which she realized was the jack hammers starting to work early in the morning on the balcony repairs of the apartment building where she lives.
Harsh and bad sounds or noise.
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cacophonously (adverb), more cacophonously, most cacophonously
A reference to very loud sounds which are harsh and unpleasant: The cacophonously clamorous machines being used by the street workers, who were installing new sewer pipes, was very disturbing to nearby residents.
cacophony (s) (noun), cacophonies (pl)
1. The quality of having bad sounds; the use of terrible-sounding words or phrases: The cacophony of noise from the street rose up and through the open windows in the tall office building.
2. The use of unpleasantly loud sounds in language; for example, for literary effects: The author of the new novel Marie is reading used many cacophonies in the text, capturing the realistic sounds of the birds in the jungle.
3. A discordant combination of dissonance: When Denise went to the students' concert, she was startled by the cacophony of the unharmonious presentations by the school's musicians.
A discordant and harsh sound.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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cacophoria (s) (noun), cacophorias (pl)
A generalized feeling of unhappiness: After her husband's death, Lucy was going through a period of cacophoria or sadness.
cacophrenic (s) (noun), cacophrenics (pl)
Descriptive of behaviors that are associated with individuals of limited intelligence or who are developmentally delayed: The recluse had been isolated for so long, she appeared to have developed some cacophrenic mannerisms which indicated very slow learning or mental deficiencies.
cacophrenic (adjective), more cacophrenic, most cacophrenic
Pertaining to a mental illness: Tom's wife was having a cacophrenic condition after doing too much exercise at the fitness studio.
cacoplasia (s) (noun), cacoplasias (pl)
1. Relating to or causing abnormal growth.
2. Incapable of normal or perfect formation.
3. Imperfectly organized and of imperfect structure.
cacoplastic (adjective), more cacoplastic, most cacoplastic
1. Relating to or causing abnormal growth.
2. Incapable of normal or perfect formation.
3. Imperfectly organized or of imperfect structure.
cacopsia (s) (noun), cacopsias (pl)
Bad eyesight, or bad vision, of any kind.
cacorhythmic (adjective), more cacorhythmic, most cacorhythmic
In bad rhythm; also formerly applied to an irregular or disorderly pulse.

Inter-related cross references, directly or indirectly, involving word units meaning "bad, wrong": dys-; mal-; mis-; pessim-; sceler-.