decrescendo
Americanadjective
noun
-
a gradual reduction in force or loudness.
-
a decrescendo passage.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of decrescendo
1800–10; < Italian, gerund of decrescere; see decrease
Explanation
Decrescendo is a musical dynamic or instruction telling performers to gradually lessen the loudness of their singing or playing. As you might guess, decrescendo is the opposite of crescendo, which means to gradually get louder when playing or singing a section of music. The first part of decrescendo looks a bit like the related word decrease, "to lessen or diminish." Decrescendo can also be used in a general, non-musical context, as in "The teacher stepped in and walked to the front of the room, causing a decrescendo in the hubbub of student voices."
Vocabulary lists containing decrescendo
Music - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
I thought my closet, like my life, would decrescendo with time, and it’s done the opposite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
The story of this Black master of the ragtime genre can seem like one that never got far beyond the starting gate and ended with a sad decrescendo.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
But he plans to return and build a cabin on family land when his music career reaches a decrescendo.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2021
The rest of the couple’s story is a sad decrescendo of frustrations and recriminations.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 25, 2017
The passage next in succession was touched off brilliantly; and in its closing bars the decrescendo was accompanied by a ritardando.
From Life of Beethoven by Schindler, Anton
“No other tenor did that. And just multiply that a thousand times. It’s crescendi, the decrescendi, all the lovely musical things. He’s just sharp that way, probably the best.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 24, 2018
The scenes that follow are long decrescendos; always, by the end, her energy is depleted.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
The crescendos and decrescendos of Nas’ ”One Mic” exhibit a true musician’s grasp of how volume and intensity work in concert to create atmosphere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2021
Still, decisions about crescendos and decrescendos, tempo, and score reading have to be made, but there are endless possibilities for vocalizing and playing these child-centered compositions.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
The whole entertainment, music, colours, costumes, songs, dances, and all, is as nicely arranged in its crescendos and decrescendos, its prestos and adagios as a Mozart finale.
From The Merry-Go-Round by Van Vechten, Carl
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.
