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View synonyms for staccato

staccato

[ stuh-kah-toh ]

adjective

  1. shortened and detached when played or sung:

    staccato notes.

  2. characterized by performance in which the notes are abruptly disconnected: Compare legato.

    a staccato style of playing.

  3. composed of or characterized by abruptly disconnected elements; disjointed:

    rapid-fire, staccato speech.



adverb

  1. in a staccato manner.

noun

, plural stac·ca·tos, stac·ca·ti [st, uh, -, kah, -tee].
  1. performance in a staccato manner.
  2. a staccato passage.

staccato

/ stəˈkɑːtəʊ /

adjective

  1. music (of notes) short, clipped, and separate
  2. characterized by short abrupt sounds, as in speech

    a staccato command



adverb

  1. (esp used as a musical direction) in a staccato manner

staccato

  1. A direction in music meaning that the notes should be performed in an abrupt, sharp, clear-cut manner.


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Notes

The term staccato has been applied generally to things that occur in rapid bursts, such as gunfire.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of staccato1

1715–25; < Italian: disconnected, past participle of staccare (derivative of stacca pole < Gothic, but taken as a variant of distaccare to detach )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of staccato1

C18: from Italian, from staccare to detach, shortened from distaccare

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Example Sentences

Cantonese, with its individual characters, also forces rappers to adopt a staccato lyricism.

There are racier diaries, too—complete with a minute-by-minute staccato of one sexual fantasy after the next.

Then a silence ensued, broken at first by sporadic and staccato remarks, then becoming as dense as the silences of the night.

There came a staccato series of minor explosions—defiant gesture, thought Beardsley!

Safe enough for the time being, said Doctor Fortier, breaking in in quick, staccato tones.

The shrill staccato words of the women set the child trembling.

She stood still on the sidewalk, exploding into tiny, staccato sentences.

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stacc.staccato mark