ostinato
Americannoun
plural
ostinatosnoun
Etymology
Origin of ostinato
1875–80; < Italian: literally, obstinate < Latin obstinātus obstinate
Vocabulary lists containing ostinato
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.
Laid across this ostinato are various storylines involving recruits working out the issues that have brought them to this Parris Island of Misfit Boys.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025
A billion people might be able to instantly hum Williams’ two-note ostinato from “Jaws” or “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars.”
From Seattle Times • Jun. 23, 2022
In the score, Picker gives Sacks a musical analogue: the note A, which the opera opens with in octaves, before being propelled by an ostinato.
From New York Times • May 25, 2022
The Pasadena, California-based court said the eight-note pattern, known as an ostinato, consisted "entirely of commonplace musical elements" that lacked the "quantum of originality" needed for copyright protection.
From Reuters • Mar. 10, 2022
The easiest way to find an ostinato is to take a short pattern right from the song itself.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
