Antonym: choose the word that is opposite in meaning to CACOPHONOUS.

Introduction / Context:
Vocabulary questions often test your understanding of synonyms and antonyms. Here the word given is cacophonous, and we must select the word that is opposite in meaning. This is important in English for describing sounds, especially in reading comprehension and descriptive writing tasks.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The target word is cacophonous, used to describe sound.
The options include harsh, harmonious, discordant, noisy, and raucous.
We are specifically asked for the opposite meaning, not a near synonym.

Concept / Approach:
Cacophonous comes from cacophony, meaning a mixture of loud, harsh, and jarring sounds. It is used to describe noise that is unpleasant to hear, such as traffic noise or badly tuned instruments playing together. Therefore its antonym must describe pleasant, smooth, or musical sound. Harmonious is the standard opposite because it suggests agreement of sounds, musical blending, and pleasantness. Many of the other options are in fact close in meaning to cacophonous and therefore cannot be antonyms.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Define cacophonous as full of harsh, jarring, and unpleasant sounds. Step 2: Look for a word among the options that conveys the idea of pleasant, smooth, or well combined sounds. Step 3: Recognise that harmonious is commonly used to describe music or sounds that blend well. Step 4: Compare harmonious with the other choices and notice that the other words are negative in tone. Step 5: Conclude that harmonious is the opposite of cacophonous.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can cross check by recalling collocations. We speak of a harmonious melody, harmonious choir, or harmonious arrangement, all positive expressions. In contrast, we talk about cacophonous traffic, cacophonous horns, or a cacophonous mix of sounds, all negative. If we place harmonious into those negative contexts, the meaning reverses, which is exactly what we want from an antonym.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A harsh essentially repeats one aspect of cacophonous, namely unpleasant sound, so it is a synonym, not an antonym.
Option C discordant means out of harmony or clashing, again close in sense to cacophonous rather than opposite to it.
Option D noisy simply means loud and full of noise, and in many contexts it overlaps with cacophonous, so it cannot be the opposite.
Option E raucous describes loud, rough, and unpleasant sounds, such as raucous laughter, making it similar to cacophonous.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes get confused when many options share a negative tone. The key is to remember that an antonym must reverse the core meaning of the word. For sound related adjectives, it helps to group them mentally into two sets: pleasant (harmonious, melodious, musical) and unpleasant (cacophonous, discordant, raucous, jarring). Once you have this mental map, picking the correct opposite becomes much easier in exams.

Final Answer:
The word that is opposite in meaning to CACOPHONOUS is harmonious.