presto
Americanadverb
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quickly, rapidly, or immediately.
-
at a rapid tempo (used as a musical direction).
adjective
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quick or rapid.
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executed at a rapid tempo (used as a musical direction).
noun
adjective
adverb
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of presto
1590–1600; < Italian: quick, quickly < Late Latin praestus (adj.) ready, Latin praestō (adv.) at hand
Explanation
Want a fast definition? Presto! Presto means "suddenly," or "super fast." Magicians love to yell presto! before a trick. In music, to play something presto is to play it at a very fast tempo. Presto comes from Italian for “quickly.” Officially, presto is the second-quickest speed that music can be played (after prestissimo). To a pianist, presto means one thing, while to a magician it means another. In this case, presto still means "fast," but it refers to the speed at which an illusion is created. If you dabble in magic tricks, you might say, "Presto!" at the moment you make a rabbit disappear or turn a silk scarf into a bouquet of flowers.
Vocabulary lists containing presto
Music - Middle School
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Music - High School
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Opera Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
The Napoli midfielder with the Midas Touch probably just waved his hand over his stomach and, hey presto, he was healed.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Something that stopped being effective suddenly emerges recharged and presto!
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
A legal success, and presto, it’s alive again.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
Then, presto — all that data appeared on the Android.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
That was my fifth grade Innovation Project, a toilet-paper-dispenser hat so that whenever I had a cold I could reach up, yank down the paper, and presto!
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
The whole entertainment, music, colours, costumes, songs, dances, and all, is as nicely arranged in its crescendos and decrescendos, its prestos and adagios as a Mozart finale.
From The Merry-Go-Round by Van Vechten, Carl
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.
