Jarring means clashing unpleasantly with what is around it. A jarring note, jarring colours, jarring to the ear.
It describes a mismatch rather than anything bad in itself, since a jarring note is only jarring beside the others. The literal sense is a physical jolt, which is where the image comes from.
1adjectivejarringClashing unpleasantly with what is around it.
“The modern glass tower looks jarring next to the old stone churches.”
jarring is a quality.
Arabic
جَرَّة — earthen receptacle
Spanish
jarra
Old French
jare
Middle French
jarre — liquid measure
Medieval Latin
jarra
Middle English
jarre — jar
English
jar
English, today
jarring
Built from
From jar + -ing. jar Middle English jarre (“jar”), from Medieval Latin jarra, or from Middle French jarre (“liquid measure”) (from Old French jare; modern French jarre (“earthenware jar”)), or from Spanish jarra, jarro (“jug, pitcher; mug, stein”), all from Arabic جَرَّة (“earthen receptacle”). The word is cognate with Italian giara (“jar; crock”), Occitan jarro, Portuguese jarra, jarro (“jug; ewer, pitcher”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA