pizzicato

American  

[pit-si-kah-toh, peet-tsee-kah-taw] / ˌpɪt sɪˈkɑ toʊ, ˌpit tsiˈkɑ tɔ /

adjective

1. played by plucking the strings with the finger instead of using the bow, as on a violin.

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noun

plural

pizzicati

1. a note or passage so played.

pizzicato British  

/ ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtəʊ /

adjective

1. (in music for the violin family) to be plucked with the finger

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noun

1. the style or technique of playing a normally bowed stringed instrument in this manner

Etymology

Origin of pizzicato

1835–45; < Italian, past participle of pizzicare to pluck, pick, twang (a stringed instrument)

Example Sentences

“Sinners,” which Warner Bros. landed in a competitive bidding war, announced itself in a teaser that was simply blood and pizzicato strings.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025

At his signal, the strings went off on a pizzicato run, buoyed by harps and congas, before dissolving into a bass drum pulse beneath simmering horns.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2023

The rhythm hops from key clicks on a bass clarinet to pizzicato strings; it’s juxtaposed with sighing melody lines and hints of a circus band, making the most of its three-and-a-half minutes.

From New York Times • Mar. 3, 2023

There’s pointillistic syncopation from marimba, glockenspiel and pizzicato strings, with a backdrop of sustained chords: the ticktock of everyday minutiae held together by the promise of constancy.

From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2022

‘It is a pizzicato for one instrument,’ replied the operator.

From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844 Volume 23, Number 1 by Various