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.

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noun

plural

allegrettos

1. an allegretto movement.

allegretto British  

/ ˌælɪˈɡrɛtəʊ /

adjective

1. (to be performed) fairly quickly or briskly

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noun

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

Etymology

Origin of allegretto

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

Example Sentences

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 mood changes and grows humourous, which again is contrasted by the following rather melancholy allegretto.

From Franz Liszt by Huneker, James

The aria follows with an allegretto in three-four time, and the execution in this division is very rapid; but the vocalist was equal to the task, and performed it with ease and grace.

From Music and Some Highly Musical People by Trotter, James M.