alfresco
Americanadverb
adjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of alfresco
First recorded in 1710–20; from Italian: “in the cool, in a cool place”; see fresco
Explanation
Alfresco means "outdoors." You can call your casual backyard picnic an alfresco dinner party to make it sound fancier. An alfresco wedding reception is held outside, as is an alfresco graduation ceremony. Most people use the adjective alfresco to describe a meal, like a picnic or barbecue, that you eat out of doors in fine weather. The word can also be spelled al fresco, which is the way it's written in its native Italian, in which it means "in the fresh air."
Vocabulary lists containing alfresco
The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
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Foreign Words and Phrases Commonly Used in English, List 3
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Flying Lessons & Other Stories
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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.
Actor Stephen Fry, who starred with Coltrane in the TV show Alfresco, said he will "be so dreadfully missed".
From BBC • Oct. 15, 2022
According to Kahn, owner of Alfresco, assembly parts from China seem to be slowing, though he’s unsure whether that’s a result of the pandemic or lingering effects of the trade war.
From Slate • Sep. 2, 2020
File-sharing software has evolved separately, at startups including Box, Huddle, YouSendIt and Alfresco, along with older players like Intralinks.
From Forbes • Jun. 26, 2012
An Artist’s Alfresco John Hancock By The thin orange line of paint traces a winding path though downtown Manhattan neighborhoods like SoHo, Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.
From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2010
Alfresco, al-fresk′o, adv. on the fresh, as to paint al fresco = on the fresh plaster: in the fresh or cool air.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
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.
