crescendo
Syllables: cres·cen·doUK/kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ//kɹɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/
crescendo noun: an instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
Noun
crescendo (plural crescendos or crescendi or crescendoes)
- An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
- As he came into the window / It was the sound of a crescendo1987, Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal”, in Bad
- A gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax.
- Their fighting rose in a fearsome crescendo.
- The climax of a gradual increase.
- Their arguing rose to a fearsome crescendo.
- With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport
Verb
crescendo (third-person singular simple present crescendoes or crescendos, present participle crescendoing, simple past and past participle crescendoed)
- To increase in intensity; to reach or head for a crescendo.
- The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.
- And similarly, they are full of tricks: when the imagined stranger calls your name, the music crescendos romantically; when the video freezes on your laugh, it immediately desaturates the candid photo, making you look old-timey or famous or dead.2021 November 1, Haley Nahman, “I got a camera to spy on my cat – and it made me question everything about myself”, in The Guardian
Adverb
crescendo (not comparable)
- Gradually increasing in force or loudness.
crescendo meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Kannada
crescendo in Tamil
- ஓசை, விசை, தீவிரம் இவற்றில் சீரான அதிகரிப்பு, ஓசை அதிகரிக்கும் இசையின் பத்தி, உச்சம்
crescendo in Bengali
- ধীরে ধীরে উচ্চগ্রাম, তীব্রতা বৃদ্ধি
crescendo in Kannada
- ಕ್ರಮೇಣ ಏರುವ ದನಿಯ ಸಂಗೀತ, ಉತ್ಕರ್ಷ, ಆರೋಹಣ, ಶೃಂಗಾರೋಹಣ, ತುತ್ತ ತುದಿಗೆ ಏರುವುದು
Examples of crescendo in a sentence
- The piece ended in a crescendo, building up to a crash of cymbals.
- Crescendo poco a poco – gradually getting louder.
- King stopped briefly after each refrain of “Let freedom ring,” building intensity and creating the musical effect of a crescendo.
Synonyms of crescendo
Antonyms
Forms of crescendo
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | crescendos |
| plural | crescendi |
| plural | crescendoes |
| alternative form | cres. |
| alternative form | cresc. |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | crescendoes |
| third-person singular present | crescendos |
| present participle | crescendoing |
| past participle | crescendoed |
| past | crescendoed |
Origin of crescendo
Borrowed from Italian crescendo, gerund of crescere (“to grow, to increase”).
Words formed from crescendo
Questions about crescendo
- What does crescendo mean?
- Crescendo means an instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
- What is crescendo in Tamil?
- Crescendo in Tamil is ஓசை, விசை, தீவிரம் இவற்றில் சீரான அதிகரிப்பு. See Crescendo meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is crescendo?
- Crescendo can be a noun, a verb or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce crescendo?
- Crescendo is pronounced /kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of crescendo?
- The plural of crescendo is crescendos.
Words near crescendo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: crescendo (page history and authors); crescendo (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); crescendo (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); crescendo (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-crescendo.ogg, en-au-crescendo.ogg.
Cite this entry: “crescendo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/crescendo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.