libretto
Americannoun
plural
librettos, libretti-
the text or words of an opera or similar extended musical composition.
-
a book or booklet containing such a text.
noun
Etymology
Origin of libretto
1735–45; < Italian, diminutive of libro book < Latin liber; see -et
Explanation
In opera, the libretto is the words or lyrics, as distinct from the music. Mozart composed the music to his operas, but the librettos were written by someone else. The life of the librettist is often a thankless one. If the opera is a success, nobody mentions the libretto. Often, the libretto of an opera or musical is called the "book" and refers to all the parts of the script except the music. This can be helpful in remembering what the word means, because libr- is Latin for "book" (as in "library").
Vocabulary lists containing libretto
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Theater - Middle School
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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.
The libretto is cumbersome although full of dramatic promise and surprise and with a comic episode that prefigures “Falstaff.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Versions of this Stravinsky classic, with its libretto based on Russian fairytales, have come and gone for more than a century.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Scott Gendel composed the music and Sandra Flores-Strand wrote the libretto.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026
The late Herbert Kretzmer, who wrote the English libretto for Les Misérables, felt he was not given enough credit for transforming the original French musical into the hugely popular English-language version, letters have revealed.
From BBC • Oct. 2, 2025
The offending piece was Theodora, a setting of a libretto by his friend Thomas Morell, which itself was based on an account of the early Christian martyr by Robert Boyle, the founder of modern chemistry.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
