pianissimo

American  

[pee-uh-nis-uh-moh, pyah-nees-see-maw] / ˌpi əˈnɪs əˌmoʊ, pjɑˈnis siˌmɔ /

adjective

1. very soft.

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adverb

1. very softly.

noun

• pianissimos
  plural

1. a passage or movement played in this way.

pianissimo British  

/ pɪəˈnɪsɪˌməʊ /

adjective

1. pp. music (to be performed) very quietly

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pianissimo Cultural  

1. A musical direction meaning “to be performed very softly”; the opposite of fortissimo.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pianissimos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pianissimo

1715–25; < Italian, superlative of piano piano ²

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Explanation

When a musician performs something pianissimo, she plays very softly. If you're playing a pianissimo piece on the piano, your fingers will be gentle on the keys. You can use this word as an adverb or an adjective — in either case, it's a specific musical direction regarding the dynamics (or loudness) of a piece of music. On sheet music, pianissimo is often marked pp, to distinguish it from piano, which is simply "soft," rather than "very soft," and is usually marked with one p. There is, in fact, an even quieter designation called pianississimo, that's "very very soft."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pianissimo pianissimos

After a pianissimo, ambient rumble combined with a brisk layer of tapping, both produced inside the piano, a gentle, melancholy theme is played on the keyboard, repeating and gradually expanding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Then in that first sort of chorus, where it’s quieter, more pianissimo, “I’m defying gravity. I think it’s time to defy gravity,” she’s not quite sure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

In “Senta’s Ballad,” she catapulted into high-lying phrases with strength and point and drew her voice into a slender thread for beautifully formed pianissimo high notes.

From New York Times ● May 31, 2023

Ms. Freni had the ability to project even the softest pianissimo passages across a stage.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2020

He was still singing—“Not much money, Oh! but honey”—fixing his cufflinks, parting his hair; but then he looked up and saw his sister—“Ain’t we got”—and pianissimo now—“fun”—fell silent.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Gould found some melting pianissimos, and Goerke unsheathed a saber of sound that shone the way toward her interpretation of the whole role.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2019

I love the passage when in one phrase Mr. Kaufmann builds from pleading pianissimos to a heroic top note.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2017

This score provides a good acoustical test, its dynamic range running from celestial pianissimos to apocalyptic thunder.

From The New Yorker ● May 15, 2017

Throughout the evening, she may have gotten a little carried away making sudden shifts between dramatic outpouring and floating pianissimos, a tic becoming a predictable shtick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2014

In the fortissimo passages his tone was immense, and his pianissimos were the most delicate whispers.

From A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present by W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock) Mathews

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