Illustration of crescendo
- mark indicating crescendo 2
cre·scen·do
krə-ˈshen-(ˌ)dō 
plural crescendos also crescendoes or crescendi
krə-ˈshen-dē
1
a
: a gradual increase
a crescendo of excitement
specifically
: a gradual increase in volume of a musical passage
b
: the peak of a gradual increase : climax
… complaints about stifling smog conditions reach a crescendo …—
Down Beat
Down Beat2
: a crescendo musical passage
crescendo
intransitive verb
crescendo
2 of 2adverb or adjective
: with an increase in volume
—used as a direction in music
Synonyms
Examples of crescendo in a Sentence
Noun
The noise rose to a crescendo.
excitement in the auditorium slowly built up and reached its crescendo when the star walked on stage
Recent Examples on the WebAlex Leeds Matthews and Ben Morse, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
Those warnings reached a crescendo Monday with the release of new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global multi-stakeholder initiative working on food security and nutrition analysis.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024
The book builds to a booming crescendo and then crashes into a quiet, unexpected but anticlimactic conclusion.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024
Then, just as the speculation was reaching a crescendo, came the photo.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2024
Or, book a post-surf stretch massage in an oceanside cabana so hearing the crescendo of North Shore waves can lull you into relaxation.
—Brittany Anas, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
The former features her rich, layered vocals as the song builds into a lux crescendo.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2024
About a mile north of the Blue Mound Road exit on U.S. 287, past a vape shop, empty fields, and an RV storage lot, a yearslong debate over the future of 80 acres of ranch land is reaching a tense crescendo.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Feb. 2024
Bowl season will build to a crescendo on New Year’s Day with the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, the winners of which will advance to the national championship game a week after that.
—Ben Zimmer, WSJ, 30 Dec. 2023
Noun
The crescendo to Clark’s college career could come in the form of a national title.
—Alex Leeds Matthews and Ben Morse, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
Those warnings reached a crescendo Monday with the release of new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global multi-stakeholder initiative working on food security and nutrition analysis.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024
The book builds to a booming crescendo and then crashes into a quiet, unexpected but anticlimactic conclusion.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024
Then, just as the speculation was reaching a crescendo, came the photo.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 12 Mar. 2024
Or, book a post-surf stretch massage in an oceanside cabana so hearing the crescendo of North Shore waves can lull you into relaxation.
—Brittany Anas, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
The former features her rich, layered vocals as the song builds into a lux crescendo.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2024
About a mile north of the Blue Mound Road exit on U.S. 287, past a vape shop, empty fields, and an RV storage lot, a yearslong debate over the future of 80 acres of ranch land is reaching a tense crescendo.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Feb. 2024
Bowl season will build to a crescendo on New Year’s Day with the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, the winners of which will advance to the national championship game a week after that.
—Ben Zimmer, WSJ, 30 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crescendo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to crescendo
Dictionary Entries Near crescendo
Cite this Entry
“Crescendo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crescendo. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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