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

Perkinson’s music evoked centuries of Black American music, between lavish pizzicato sections which called to mind the connections between the American banjo and West African plucked string instruments and bluesy slides from note to note.

From New York Times • Nov. 20, 2022

After that came gentle yet direct bowing; then, finally, forceful pizzicato.

From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2022

He didn't answer, preoccupied with the weird sensation inside his body: the diaphragm's birdwing flutterings, the ghostly fingers playing a pizzicato on his arteries' strings closer and closer to the heart.

From The Brain by Blade, Alexander