Abstract In this paper, we investigate a static spherically symmetric black hole (BH) embedded in a Dehnen-(1,4,0) type dark matter (DM) halo in the presence of a cloud string. We examine and presente data on how the core density of the DM halo parameter and the cloud string parameter affect BH attributes such as quasinormal modes (QNMs) and shadow cast. To do this, we first look into the effective potential of perturbation equations for three types of perturbation fields with different spins: massless scalar field, electromagnetic field, and gravitational field. Then, using the 6th order WKB approximation, we examine quasinormal modes of the BH disturbed by the three fields and derive quasinormal frequencies. The changes of QNM versus the core density parameter and the cloud string parameter for three disturbances are explored. We also investigate how the core density and the cloud string parameters affect the photon sphere and shadow radius. Interestingly, the study shows that the influence of Dehnen type DM and cloud string increases both photon spheres and shadow radius. Finally, we employ observational data from Sgr $A{^\star}$ and $M87{^\star}$ to set limitations on the BH parameters.