fortissimo
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of fortissimo
1715–25; < Italian; superlative of forte forte 2
Explanation
The word fortissimo in a piece of music means you need to play or sing very loudly at that point. It’s the opposite of pianissimo. You may already know the Italian word forte as used in music to mean "loud" or "loudly." Fortissimo has the same root, plus the suffix -issimo, which is like the English ending -est in loudest. So theoretically, fortissimo tells you to produce the loudest sound you can. The instruction is represented by the symbol ƒƒ, but you can also see ƒƒƒ sometimes, or even ƒƒƒƒ! Which is extremely, crashingly loud!
Vocabulary lists containing fortissimo
Music - Middle School
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 3
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Music - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fortissimo eruptions coincide with pianissimo meditations, in a back-and-forth that would become a mainstay of Górecki’s style.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 30, 2015
While chief of Nike Israel he got a call in late 2006 from a Harvard friend at Fortissimo Capital, the private equity fund in Rosh Haayin.
From Forbes • Jul. 19, 2012
Fortissimo bought the company for $10 million, half of that in a note.
From Forbes • Jul. 19, 2012
Worse than any playing of false notes was the mistake we made in key and in tempo: D major, Allegro, Marcia, Fortissimo, with cymbals and trumpets!
From The New Society by Windham, Arthur
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
