ostinato
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
“River Niger” has an infectious and captivating energy, rooted on a rhythmic B-flat minor ostinato, yet open in form with each soloist leading us on a journey throughout the recording.
From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2023
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
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
Similar debates — accommodation versus revolution, assimilation versus cultural integrity, theft versus homage — run through “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” like the ostinato of a smoothly traveling bass line.
From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2020
If the children are not ready to sing the song with a sung vocal ostinato, begin by chanting the song as a speech piece and adding one or more speech ostinato patterns.
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.
