Word of the Day

I have a keyboarding class with 8th graders on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. After we complete our lesson each day we learn a new word. The students open the Merriam-Webster dictionary site (www.m-w.com) and I spell the day's word for them. The site gives us all the dictionary information plus pronounces the word for us.
Where do I get the words? Those of you are are like me and older than dirt, can remember that our high school English teacher, Mr. Hill had a weekly vocabulary list that he tested us over every Friday. Some of the words I remember from his lists, others just pop up. I ran into this word when I was reading a picture book to first graders, proving it is not a very good idea to read a book to a group without previewing it! I did not know how to pronounce the word!
And the word is:

Cacophony

harsh or discordant sound : dissonance 2; specifically : harshness in the sound of words or phrases

In a sentence:
The sounds of barking dogs and sirens added to the cacophony on the streets.


You will have to visit m-w.com to get the correct pronunciation.