Trivia Time

Cadence is considered most important in which field?

Test Your Knowledge

cadence

American  

[kayd-ns] / ˈkeɪd ns /

noun

• cadences
  plural

1. 

   rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words.

   the cadence of language.

2. (in free verse) a rhythmic pattern that is nonmetrically structured.

3. the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement.

   The chorus line danced in rapid cadence.

   Synonyms:

   meter, rhythm, pulse, tempo

4. the flow or rhythm of events, especially the pattern in which something is experienced.

   the frenetic cadence of modern life.

5. a slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking or reading, as at the end of a declarative sentence.

6. the general modulation of the voice.

7. Music. a sequence of notes or chords that indicates the momentary or complete end of a composition, section, phrase, etc.

---

verb (used with object)

cadenced, cadencing

1. to make rhythmical.

cadence British  

/ ˈkeɪdəns /

noun

1. the beat or measure of something rhythmic

2. a fall in the pitch of the voice, as at the end of a sentence

3. modulation of the voice; intonation

4. a rhythm or rhythmic construction in verse or prose; measure

5. the close of a musical phrase or section

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cadences
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of cadence

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Italian cadenza cadenza

---

Explanation

The word cadence has its own lovely cadence — rhythm of sound as it's spoken. Cadence has come to mean "the rhythm of sounds" from its root cadere which means "to fall." Originally designating falling tones especially at the end of lines of music or poetry, cadence broadened to mean the rhythms of the tones and sometimes even the rhythm of sounds in general. Think of the cadence of the marching band at a football game or the cadence of the crickets on a warm spring night. You can remember the "fall" idea by thinking of one of the only words that contains it — decadence — which has the prefix de- at the front to mean down, or downfall.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cadence cadences cadenced cadencing

Men and women get treatments at the same cadence, she added, noting that the median rate is every four months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Rather, it reads with the cadence of a PI.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

New DoT rules will make it easier to increase space launch cadence.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

“If you don’t like a party right now, you’re the only one that can change it,” she said in her high-energy cadence.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

The cadence of it is pleasant to me now, and this spin around the track feels easy.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

While the bots are getting slightly better at mimicking human cadences, AI-generated writing still reeks of the sterile laboratory where it originates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

The voices of his protagonists, which is to say the cadences of their social identities, determine not just the sound but the shape of their stories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025

He experiments with new tones and cadences; the beats bounce, the production is subdued, but innovative.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2024

He has had to learn the playbook, pre-snap cadences, even how to put his pads on.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024

She knew Mama was mad when she let the familiar cadences of Georgia slip into her voice.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

Their days are cadenced only by breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as a few medical appointments and sporadic detention hearings.

From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2024

No matter how many times I brought it up, Epiphania always gave the same sad answer in her cadenced, Italian accent: "No, you can't buy it! The house is not on the market!"

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2022

The specialists are cadenced and full of adrenaline, so they can get “caught leaning” when the system is out of rhythm.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2021

The cadenced distribution of cotton bolls across the picture just over their heads evokes musical notes written on a staff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2021

The Raleigh accent is soft and beautifully cadenced, but my brother's is a more complex hybrid, informed by his professional relationships with marble-mouthed, deep-country work crews and his abiding love of hard-core rap music.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

The fifth, when in the lowest voice, should be used as in two-part counterpoint, except when used in V43 or the cadencing tonic six-four chord.

From A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons by Friedrich Johann Lehmann

The psychology of rhythm shows its basal value in cadencing the soul.

From Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene by G. Stanley Hall

The six-four chord may be used at the close as the cadencing tonic six-four chord.

From A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons by Friedrich Johann Lehmann

Steadily, lithely, and with never an error the rowers drove through the waves—steadily, and in exact time, their cry arose cadencing each stroke.

From The Prince of India — Volume 01 by Lewis Wallace

Listening fearfully, he heard through these a murmurous baritone cadencing: Talbot Potter declaiming the inwardness of "Roderick Hanscom"; and then—oh, bells of Elfland faintly chiming!—the voice of Wanda Malone!

From Harlequin and Columbine by Booth Tarkington

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• accent
• inflection
• intonation
• lilt
• tempo

---