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crescendo

[kri-shen-doh, -sen-doh, kre-shen-daw]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural

crescendos, crescendi

Music.��
1. a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force.
2. a musical passage characterized by such an increase.
3. the performance of a crescendo passage.
  The crescendo by the violins is too abrupt.
Antonyms:
a steady increase in force or intensity.
The rain fell in a crescendo on the rooftops.
the climactic point or moment in such an increase; peak.
The authorities finally took action when public outrage reached a crescendo.

adjective

gradually increasing in force, volume, or loudness (decrescendo ordiminuendo ).

verb (used without object)

to grow in force or loudness.

crescendo

/ ��ɪˈʃɛ�Ի�əʊ /

noun

music
1. cresc.��a gradual increase in loudness or the musical direction or symbol indicating this
2. ( as modifier )
  a crescendo passage
a gradual increase in loudness or intensity
the rising crescendo of a song
a peak of noise or intensity
the cheers reached a crescendo

verb

(intr) to increase in loudness or force

adverb

with a crescendo

crescendo

A musical direction used to indicate increasing loudness.

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The term is sometimes used figuratively to indicate rising intensity in general: “As the days went on, there was a crescendo of angry letters about my speech.” Crescendo is also sometimes misused to indicate a peak of intensity, as in, “The angry letters about my speech hit a crescendo on Wednesday.”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of crescendo¹

1770–80; < Italian: literally, growing < Latin ��ŧ��Ի�ܳ�, gerund of ��ŧ�� to grow; crescent

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Word History and Origins

Origin of crescendo¹

C18: from Italian, literally: increasing, from crescere to grow, from Latin

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The pushback reached a crescendo on Thursday, when — with just a few hours notice — Bass assembled more than 100 people from religious, community, business and civic groups to denounce the raids.

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Instructions to the jurors to ignore the crescendo of support for Depp outside the courtroom didn't matter, leading to a $15 million judgment in his favor.

From

However, when it came to rehearsing the song Banks said the band kept naturally speeding up, building to a final crescendo when they actually wanted to maintain a consistent rhythm.

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Now passions are running high and the nationalist rhetoric has reached a crescendo on both sides.

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It crescendoed in the seventh, when the Dodgers stormed all the way back from what had been a four-run deficit, only to watch a temporary one-run lead fail to last.

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Related Words

escalation��
upsurge��

Crescas crescent

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