# crescendo vs crescent

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### crescendo
*noun · IPA /kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ/ · frequency rank #35,673*
An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.

### crescent
*noun · IPA /ˈkɹɛ.zn̩t/ · frequency rank #13,491*
The figure of the moon as it appears between its first or last quarter and the new moon, with concave and convex edges terminating in points.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crescendo-vs-crescent