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allegretto

American  
[al-i-gret-oh, ahl-le-gret-taw] / ˌæl ɪˈgrɛt oʊ, ˌɑl lɛˈgrɛt tɔ /

adjective

  1. light, graceful, and moderately fast in tempo.


noun

  • allegrettos
    plural
  1. an allegretto movement.

allegretto British  
/ ˌælɪˈɡrɛtəʊ /

adjective

  1. (to be performed) fairly quickly or briskly

"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

noun

  1. a piece or passage to be performed in this manner

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of allegretto

1730–40; < Italian, equivalent to allegr ( o ) allegro + -etto -et

Vocabulary lists containing allegretto

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:

It’s in the allegretto third movement that No. 8’s Russian colors begin to show.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 10, 2022

Even Elham, her W’s no longer sounding like V’s, and her tempo improved from largo to allegretto, is eventually able to pose a challenge to Omid’s fluency.

From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2022

A spiritual, harmonically inventive composition, it climaxes with an allegretto apparently modelled after the African-American "juba" dance once practised on US plantations.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2021

The first speaks adagio, the second allegretto, the third both together.

From Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends by John Keats

Minuet.— generally a little slower than moderato, although in later minuets the tempo became allegretto.

From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by W. J. (Winton James) Baltzell

Tripping allegrettos sounded sweeter to the vulgar sense than the old largos of Pope Gregory the Great.

From The Story of the Hymns and Tunes by Theron Brown

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