What is an adjective that describes something very visually crowded or busy? Cacophonous is perfect, but it describes sound.
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5Jackson Pollock ;)– RaeCommented Sep 14, 2011 at 1:06
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'busy' is the first thing that came to my mind from your title question. Are you looking for something coined from Ancient Greek?– MitchCommented Aug 17, 2012 at 21:48
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@Rea, yes, I've heard it used that way. I was just checking to see if it had already been given as an answer.– Phil SweetCommented Jan 7, 2022 at 11:44
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13 Answers
Depending on your specific situation, I think chaos, confusion, turmoil, and tumult all have the chance to do nicely. However, I also like the potential for metaphor here; if you can use it in this context, why not just use cacophony or visual cacophony? We even use loud in English to describe brightly colored things; sound can be used to express a visual experience so intense that it seems to bleed into the other senses.
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1Agreed. Aural descriptives have been commonly used to describe visual effects for as long as we have a written record. I see nothing wrong with the metaphor as it stands. "Tumult", in fact, is fundamentally an aural descriptive; the other words work just as well. Commented Sep 14, 2011 at 5:35
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I was considering using "visual cacophony" and this answer assures me I'm not alone. @KylePearson I'm reminded of the onomatopoetic "bling!" that is used for diamonds or sharp swords.– TecBratCommented Jun 28, 2017 at 18:24
Perhaps one could describe the thing as "cluttered":
1.Scattered with a disorderly mixture of objects; littered
For example, "The table top was cluttered with an endless amount of items"
There also the other examples of croweded, messy, littered, dishevel, scrambled(like scrambled egg), and my personal favourite, topsy-turvy
answered Sep 14, 2011 at 1:12
Perhaps:
motley n. pl. motleys:
- The parti-colored attire of a court jester.
- A heterogeneous, often incongruous mixture of elements.
(Definition courtesy of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Garish is the closest I can think of.
Cacography describes bad handwriting or scribbling. You could help reenforce cacovisual as a new word. It was coined elsewhere but only has two English references on the web according to Google.
You might describe it as assaulting (one's senses), or a visual train-wreck.
Some related words and phrases are groteque and eye sore.
Yiddish has the wonderful word ungapatchka, which means overdone, garish, distastefully ornate, or over-the-top; I think it's exactly what you're looking for. Too bad it doesn't have the currency in English that some other Yiddish words do.
"Garish" is not a bad English word for this, come to think of it!
answered Sep 14, 2011 at 1:53
You asked for a single word, but your own "visual cacophony" hits the nail squarely on the head. I can visualise that dischordant mess immediately!
Down south, we say "gaudy", and although this tends to be a term of disparagement used against presumptuous decor and attire it is often extended to other situations, as well.
"The colors they used in that mall architecture were just gaudy; i can't look at the place for longer than two minutes, and it give me a headache."
Cornucopia may suit if it's a positive abundance of things. Although not what you are looking for I expect!
Cornucopia is a noun though (as is cacophony)
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This word does not seem to fit the bill. The definition I have is "an abundant, overflowing supply."– Luke_0Commented Sep 27, 2012 at 1:56
Perhaps the noun form of spattering, which means to have many distinct elements spread chaotically over a surface, e.g. a spattering of paint on a canvas.
Be careful with the word tumult — that describes noise as well!
A "visual tumult" doesn't sound as good as a "visual cacophony". Depending on the situation, we could use a number of terms. I'd go with "a riot of (something)", be it colour or whatever the visual focus is that is so cacophonous.
I would see this word in the reviews of black metal bands: Carnivalesque.
Also: maddening, phantasmagoric (if you want to bend them).
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Please could you edit this answer to include some citations, e.g. links to dictionary definitions of these words? Thanks! Commented Jul 3, 2017 at 22:43
David Brin appears to have coined the word cacophote in his book Sundiver, to refer to a visual cacophony.
See this excerpt from the book. I instantly understood the meaning upon reading it, but the word does not appear in the OED, and a google search turns up only this passage.
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Hi, could you add some links or references to this answer please? Answers here are generally expected to have some sort of backup. Commented Jul 3, 2017 at 22:47
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@Randal'Thor I tried editing, but it has been placed on peer review. I answered this question before creating an account, which may be causing some issue. Commented Jul 4, 2017 at 0:03
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@Randal'Thor In any event, a google search will turn up cacophote in Brin's book, but it is not in the OED. Commented Jul 4, 2017 at 0:04
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2@JimConant Yep, it looks like you now have two separate accounts, which is why you needed peer review to edit your own posts. Please see the instructions here for how to merge your accounts; this will enable you to edit your own posts freely and comment on any post. (In the meantime, I've voted to approve your pending edit.) Commented Jul 4, 2017 at 0:07
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I think the word you are looking for is the adjective cacoptic, a neologism proposed in:
Cacoptis:
cacopsis means "eye offending".(noun) and its adjective form is cacoptic.
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4Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.– Community BotCommented Jan 2, 2022 at 23:46
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