Definition of "fortissimo" [‖For•tis•si•mo]

• In a very loud manner. Used chiefly as a direction. (adverb)
• A note, chord, or passage played fortissimo. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Again and again, we experience a Baroque church as a unique kind of fortissimo of joy, an Alleluia in visual form."
• "So far, this scribe detects two "fortissimo" candidates -- people palpably impatient to get in office and shake things up."
• "Beethoven's many accents were given little attention, and rarely did the group produce a real, full-throated fortissimo."