basso
noun
a person who sings bass; a bass.
basso
1 American
[bas-oh, bah-soh, bahs-saw]
/ ˈbæs oʊ, ˈbɑ soʊ, ˈbɑs sɔ /
noun
Music.
-
bassos,
plural
-
bassi
plural
Basso
2
American
[bas-oh]
/ ˈbæs oʊ /
noun
basso
British
/ ˈbæsəʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of basso
1810–20; < Italian < Late Latin bassus. See base 2
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:
His debut ad felt like an Aquaman trailer, the veteran and oyster farmer’s basso profondo voice overlaying scenes of him in wet suits, splitting wood, piloting a boat, flying the flag, swinging a kettlebell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Exaggerating some of the singer’s vocal qualities — the basso burr and steel-wool growls — he instead adds value while suggesting character.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
“My dad was fluent in German,” notes Paul, whose basso profundo tones echo his father’s, “so I’d expect that their tour extended to a few German-speaking countries as well.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2021
He then portrayed in words and action, his arms folded and with a demeanor of disdain as he said in a guttural basso, our response should be “Noooo!”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2021
He also wrote a poem about bells, bells, and more bells, ringing and clanging and jangling away, from tinkling sleigh bells like those of a troika, to the deep, basso tolling of funeral bells.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
As rain fell outside, the charismatic Gianni Basso gave us a tour of his old-school stationer’s workshop and adjoining printmaking museum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Most affected children die in their teenage years from heart complications, though some, like Sammy Basso -- the oldest known person with Progeria -- live longer.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2025
“It’s not that you’re not welcome,” says solo designer Billy Basso.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2024
Luckily, I had a second opportunity to visit it, because, unlike my virtual travel assistant, Ms. Basso had sent me a link to prebook my tickets.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
Of these the earliest known is a "Romanesca per violone Solo e Basso se piaci," and some dances, by Biagio Marini, published in 1620.
From Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday by Henry Charles Lahee
And you, sweet singers of old lands, soprani, tenori, bassi!
From Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Redditus Liberi.—Those quit rents which were paid to the lord by "liberi tenentes," freeholders; as distinguished from "villani bassi tenentes," &c.
From Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by George Bell
There is a fountain in the midst, surrounded with bassi relievi much disfigured.
From Pencillings by the Way Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe by N. Parker Willis
Oriental shells are made at Rome into beautiful cameos, by the white outer surface being cut away upon the deeper coloured internal part, forming figures in minute bassi relievi.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 289, December 22, 1827 by Various
Badiali and Corradi Setti were the two barytones, while the two bassi were Marini and Coletti.
From Chapters of Opera Being historical and critical observations and records concerning the lyric drama in New York from its earliest days down to the present time by Henry Edward Krehbiel
Powerful rumblings by Soviet baritones and bassos, and less spectacular arias by women singers, from Pique Dame, lolanthe and Eugene Onegin.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then the lights on the town Christmas trees would not work, and the choir boys, who were to sing carols over the public-address system, turned up some discouragingly deep bassos.
From Time Magazine Archive
Londoners who gathered there got more than their shilling's worth of fine music by a full, tail-coated orchestra, of plain & fancy singing by sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, coloratura-mezzo-sopranos, baritones, bassos.
From Time Magazine Archive
But big, forceful bassos are much more common than slender, graceful tenors.
From Time Magazine Archive
The bassos Boris Khristov and Nikolai Ghiaurov, in particular, rank among the great singers of all time.
From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Violeta D. Baluyut
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.
