Meaning & use

forte

adverb·Academic

In music, played or sung loudly, as marked by the symbol f in a musical score.

See it in a sentence

The conductor signaled forte just before the brass section entered loudly.

The final chorus is marked forte to give the piece a powerful ending.

A note on using this word

In music forte means loud, from Italian; in general English, someone's forte instead means their particular strength or talent.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

piano

Another way to use it

2. noun

A person's particular strength or skill.

Despite her confidence, public speaking has never actually been her forte at work.

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