fado
Americannoun
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a Portuguese folk song typically of doleful or fatalistic character and usually accompanied on the guitar.
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a dance to the music of such a song.
noun
Etymology
Origin of fado
1900–05; < Portuguese < Latin fatum fate
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.
Meanwhile, the Romans lose all desire to fight upon hearing the melancholic "fado" Portuguese music.
From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025
Portuguese Catholic parishes and Portuguese halls — where weddings, festas and soulful fado concerts take place — dot the tiny towns that stretch from roughly Bakersfield to Redding.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2024
She wandered the old city’s cobblestone streets, visited Belém Tower, rode the Santa Justa Lift and caught a fado performance while she was in town.
From Washington Post • Jun. 8, 2022
To honour him, a stone plaque was placed on the walls of the National Pantheon in Lisbon, which houses the tombs of major personalities from well-known fado singer Amalia Rodrigues to footballer Eusebio.
From Reuters • Oct. 19, 2021
They even swam, once, and Carl played at learning two new dances, strangely called the "fox trot" and the "lu lu fado."
From The Trail of the Hawk A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life by Lewis, Sinclair
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.
