buffo

[ boo-foh; Italian boof-faw ]

/ ˈbu foʊ; Italian ˈbuf fɔ /

noun, plural buf·fi [boo-fee Italian boof-fee] /ˈbu fi Italian ˈbuf fi/, buf·fos. Music.

(in opera) a comedy part, usually bass.

a male opera singer who specializes in comic roles.

Words nearby buffo

buffet, buffet car, buffeting, buffett, bufflehead, buffo, buffon, buffoon, buffs, buffy, buffy coat

Origin of buffo

1755–65; < Italian: ridiculous, comic actor who takes comic parts; back formation from buffone buffoon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for buffo

When he is not confined to this, he is set up for a laughing stock in buffo work.
Letters of Peregrine Pickle|George P. Upton
And this must be Rosina,” whispered the buffo; “Dio mio, how death has aged her!
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones
The puppets are here, and the opera is open, but only with a buffo company, and without a buffet.
The Letters of Charles Dickens|Charles Dickens
I will tell you presently,” replied the buffo, “we must first go upstairs.
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones

The buffo told me that the Christians in Paris were not armed, but they all got safely away to Montalbano.
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones

British Dictionary definitions for buffo

buffo

/ (ˈbʊfəʊ, Italian ˈbuffo) /

noun plural -fi (-fɪ) or -fos

(in Italian opera of the 18th century) a comic part, esp one for a bass

Also called: buffo bass, basso buffo (Italian ˈbasso ˈbuffo) a bass singer who performs such a part

Word Origin for buffo

C18: from Italian (adj): comic, from buffo (n) buffoon

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