parlando
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of parlando
1875–80; < Italian, present participle of parlare to speak; see parle
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.
“I’m tired of making up while you’ve been making out with someone else’s makeup,” she spits in her signature punk parlando.
From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026
The result, though, on first hearing can sound like an endless flow of parlando singing, more ongoing narration than operatic musing, music confined to underscoring Shakespeare’s unbroachable phrases.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2022
Strauss underscored spoken dialogue with arch instrumental commentary, but the orchestra, at times hamstrung by his sumptuous style and parlando vocal lines, shifts its weight like an elephant in ballet shoes.
From New York Times • Jul. 24, 2022
Her singing was variable in the extreme, with some soft, meltingly lovely parlando phrases giving way to strident, insecurely pitched climaxes that quavered on wiry threads of sound.
From Chicago Tribune • Jan. 24, 2011
Tonio comes forward and announces in parlando voice that "the comedy is finished!"
From Stars of the Opera by Wagnalls, Mabel
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.
