Question

dissonant Critics of the health-care plan pointed to its two seemingly dissonant goals: cost containment, which would try to control spending, and universal coverage, which could increase spending. ˈdɪsənənt

Accepted Answer

(1) Clashing or discordant, especially in music. (2) Incompatible or disagreeing. Since dissonant includes the negative prefix dis-, what is dissonant sounds or feels unresolved, unharmonic, and clashing. Early in the 20th century, composers such as Arnold Schoenberg and his students developed the use of dissonance in music as a style in itself. But to many listeners, the sounds in such music are still unbearable, and most continue to prefer music based on traditional tonality. Dissonant is now often used without referring to sound at all. Cognitive dissonance, for example, is what happens when you believe two different things that can't actually both be true.

word	dissonant
definition	(1) Clashing or discordant, especially in music. (2) Incompatible or disagreeing.
eg_sentence	Critics of the health-care plan pointed to its two seemingly dissonant goals: cost containment, which would try to control spending, and universal coverage, which could increase spending.
explanation	Since dissonant includes the negative prefix dis-, what is dissonant sounds or feels unresolved, unharmonic, and clashing. Early in the 20th century, composers such as Arnold Schoenberg and his students developed the use of dissonance in music as a style in itself. But to many listeners, the sounds in such music are still unbearable, and most continue to prefer music based on traditional tonality. Dissonant is now often used without referring to sound at all. Cognitive dissonance, for example, is what happens when you believe two different things that can't actually both be true.
IPA	ˈdɪsənənt

Dissonant Music Sounds Clashing Discordant Incompatible Disagreeing Critics