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affettuoso

American  
[uh-fech-oo-oh-soh, ahf-fet-twaw-zaw] / əˌfɛtʃ uˈoʊ soʊ, ˌɑf fɛtˈtwɔ zɔ /

adjective

  1. with affection and tenderness (a musical direction).


noun

PLURAL

affettuosos
  1. a composition or movement of gentle, tender character.

affettuoso British  
/ æˌfɛtʃuːˈəʊsəʊ /

adjective

  1. music with feeling

"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

Etymology

Origin of affettuoso

1715–25; < Italian: affecting, moving < Latin affectuōsus, equivalent to affectu ( s ) affect 1 + -ōsus -ous

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.

Il mio abbraccio affettuoso alla comunità ebraica #maipiù Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israeli office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Corriere della Sera it was unprecedented for a newspaper to use Mein Kampf to boost sales.

From The Guardian

But with the second movement, populated by eerie apparitions from the "affettuoso" movement of Bach's concerto, the music heated up.

From The Guardian

The intimate second-movement Affettuoso, by three of the city’s finest early-music artists — Mr. Stein, the violinist Robert Mealy and the flutist Sandra Miller —alone was worth the trip to Trinity.

From New York Times

No dainty dolce affettuoso I, Bearded, sun-burnt, gray-neck'd, forbidding, I have arrived.

From Project Gutenberg

This is followed by an expressive affettuoso theme, mostly for the violins, leading to a new melody, very triumphant and happy, but soon broken in upon by the murmuring of the people, this time sounding even more ominous.

From Project Gutenberg