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
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 Web
Rachel Wegner, USA Today, 11 July 2025
As the fury reached a crescendo and then petered out, Bartman himself remained entirely out of public view — no easy feat in the era of social media.
—Virginia Chamlee, People.com, 9 July 2025
This sequel emerges in a different moment, when anxieties around our simultaneous reliance on, and unease with, digital connectivity and computing power are at a crescendo.
—Simon Parkin, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
Our obsession with ranking greatness // NCAAs crescendo with exciting Final Fours, but college basketball is broken.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for crescendo
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Noun
This summer, those fights reached another crescendo when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious parents can opt their public-school children out of reading books with LGBTQ+ themes.
—Rachel Wegner, USA Today, 11 July 2025
As the fury reached a crescendo and then petered out, Bartman himself remained entirely out of public view — no easy feat in the era of social media.
—Virginia Chamlee, People.com, 9 July 2025
This sequel emerges in a different moment, when anxieties around our simultaneous reliance on, and unease with, digital connectivity and computing power are at a crescendo.
—Simon Parkin, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
Our obsession with ranking greatness // NCAAs crescendo with exciting Final Fours, but college basketball is broken.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for crescendo
Cite this Entry
“Crescendo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crescendo. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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