Decrescendo (pronounced “day-cruh-SHEN-doh”) is a musical term meaning to gradually get softer. When you see decrescendo in sheet music, it tells you to lower the volume bit by bit, like slowly turning down the volume knob on a radio. You might start playing loudly and then ease into a whisper over several measures.

The word comes from Italian, where it literally means “decreasing.” Musicians also use the shorter term diminuendo, which means the same thing. Both are often shown in music with a long, narrow wedge shape that opens to the left: `<`.

Composers use decrescendos to create emotion and drama. A piece might build to a powerful climax and then decrescendo into a peaceful ending, like a storm gradually fading to calm. An orchestra playing a decrescendo requires careful control: every musician must get softer together at the same rate, which takes real skill and attention.

Outside of music, people sometimes use decrescendo to describe anything that gradually decreases in intensity. You might say the excitement at a party reached a decrescendo as guests started heading home, or that an argument ended in a decrescendo as everyone calmed down.