staccato

[ stuh-kah-toh ]
See synonyms for staccato on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. shortened and detached when played or sung: staccato notes.

  2. characterized by performance in which the notes are abruptly disconnected: a staccato style of playing.: Compare legato.

  1. 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 [stuh-kah-tee]. /stəˈkɑ ti/.
  1. performance in a staccato manner.

  2. a staccato passage.

Origin of staccato

1
1715–25; <Italian: disconnected, past participle of staccare (derivative of stacca pole <Gothic, but taken as a variant of distaccare to detach)

Words Nearby staccato

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use staccato in a sentence

  • 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.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • There came a staccato series of minor explosions—defiant gesture, thought Beardsley!

    We're Friends, Now | Henry Hasse
  • Safe enough for the time being, said Doctor Fortier, breaking in in quick, staccato tones.

    The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson
  • The shrill staccato words of the women set the child trembling.

    Patchwork | Anna Balmer Myers
  • She stood still on the sidewalk, exploding into tiny, staccato sentences.

    Jane Journeys On | Ruth Comfort Mitchell

British Dictionary definitions for staccato

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

Origin of staccato

1
C18: from Italian, from staccare to detach, shortened from distaccare

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for staccato

staccato

[ (stuh-kah-toh) ]


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

Notes for staccato

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.