castrato
Americannoun
-
castrati
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of castrato
1755–65; < Italian < Latin castrāt ( us ); see castrate
Vocabulary lists containing castrato
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Broecker and his team created roughly 200 costumes for the episode, including a ruffled collar and breeches Grande wore to portray a traumatized castrato and a prosthetic bustline for her turn as Jennifer Coolidge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
I did not, for example, expect: national elocutionists, Kim Kardashian’s vocal fry, the last Vatican castrato, the telling silence of lizards, Alexa or the delightful, data-based revelation that humans can reliably hear a smile.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2021
Farinelli’s teeth provide additional information about his daily life, unrelated to his status as a castrato.
From Forbes ● Jun. 1, 2015
Or that the virtuosic soprano of the castrato was due to his artificially small and flexible larynx, combined with supersized lungs?
From Economist ● Jul. 24, 2014
The castrato whom they did engage was Carestini, who, though less celebrated, was at any rate a singularly artistic singer.
From Handel by Edward J. Dent
It will be adapted from Anne Rice's 1982 novel, which is set in the 18th Century world of the "castrati" - male singing stars who were castrated to preserve their high voices.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
She has excelled in Baroque roles that veered from the mainstream, releasing recordings devoted to 19th century soprano Maria Malibran, castrati and composers Antonio Salieri and Agostino Steffani.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
This is why castrati, who were for a long time made to sing in operas, had to be operated on before puberty.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 1, 2021
All but one of the eight da capo arias Ms. Hallenberg will perform at Zankel were written for castrati.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2020
He will give us these castrati, Dany thought, and then he will march home and make some more.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
