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.

   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

staccatos, staccati 

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.

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

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of staccato¹

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

Example Sentences

The progression of the façades from warm rose to pink-cream to mauve-green is knit together by the blues and sienna of the windows, anchored by the staccato pink and green water below.

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The staccato nature of the writing is helped enormously by the entrancing acting of both Vargas, who breezes through different theatrical realms as though he had wings, and Hernandez, who locks realistically into character.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

There was a kind of rhythm, a fast staccato he could get.

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The hours of darkness were once again punctuated by the staccato of air defence guns, buzz of drones and large explosions.

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The band emerged in a flicker of static and staccato strings, accompanied by a lone saxophone, before breaking into Happiness.

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Related Words

• litany 
• recurrence 
• reiteration 
• repeat 
• rhythm