con brio

American  

[kon bree-oh, kohn, kawn bree-aw] / kɒn ˈbri oʊ, koʊn, kɔn ˈbri ɔ /

adverb

1. with vigor; vivaciously (used as a musical direction).

---

con brio British  

/ kɒn ˈbriːəʊ /

adjective

1. music (to be performed) with liveliness or spirit, as in the phrase allegro con brio

---

Etymology

Origin of con brio

Borrowed into English from Italian around 1890–95

Example Sentences

If the first bar is like that, it’s not con brio at all; it’s allegro comodo or allegro pesante or something like that.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2022

Telemundo, using the marketing power of many NBCUniversal networks, wants to attract viewers with a different sound: Cantor’s cantabile con brio.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 11, 2018

Grover Gardner, veteran narrator of the Montalbano series, delivers a marvelous performance, serving up the many Spanish and Italian phrases con brio.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 7, 2018

I like to take a newspaper into a café and watch them despatch their morning espressos "con brio" on their way to work, every inch the proud architects of modern Spain.

From The Guardian • Mar. 20, 2010

The tempo of the first movement, which begins after a grand pause, is allegro con brio, and the first subject is given out in a sparkling cascade of sound.

From A Book of Burlesques by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)