segue

American  

[sey-gwey, seg-wey] / ˈseɪ gweɪ, ˈsɛg weɪ /

verb (used without object)

segued, segueing

1. to continue at once with the next musical section or composition (often used as a musical direction).

2. to perform in the manner of the preceding section (used as a musical direction).

3. to make a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption.

   The conversation segued from travel anecdotes to food.

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noun

1. an uninterrupted transition made between one musical section or composition and another.

2. any smooth, uninterrupted transition from one thing to another.

segue British  

/ ˈsɛɡweɪ /

verb

1. (often foll by into) to proceed from one section or piece of music to another without a break

2. (imperative) play on without pause: a musical direction

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noun

1. the practice or an instance of playing music in this way

Etymology

Origin of segue

First recorded in 1850–55; from Italian: “(it) follows, (there) follows,” 3rd-person singular present of seguire “to follow,” ultimately from Latin sequī; see sue

Explanation

A segue is a smooth transition. When you segue in conversation, you change the topic so smoothly that people might not even notice. A good speaker knows how to segue: they can get from one topic to another so easily that you hardly notice the topic changed. Comedians have the same skill as they segue from one joke to another, and politicians also learn the art of the segue. So do teachers. This is also a term in music for moving from one part of a piece to another. Remember that segue does not sound quite how it looks: it's pronounced "SEG-way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

segue segued segueing

Rosalía used this as a perfect segue into her song La Perla, supposedly about her former fiancé Rauw Alejandro - with lyrics about a "terrorista emocional" whose proudest achievement is his collection of bras.

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

I feel like “Wild Ride” was a great way to kind of segue out of coming from “Bloom,” even though this is still a continuation of that, I wanted to showcase something a little different.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

Passionately defending cinema on the big screen and then waiting for the next suggested movie to segue into our queue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

Seeing this as the perfect segue, I told him I, too, was having a baby except I wasn’t keeping mine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

Their easy give-and-take, comic timing, and ability to segue into heart-wrenching moments, like Peeta’s confession of love for me, have made them a huge success with the audience.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

“The idea that you could strike it rich in California with good luck and industry then segued into the fact that people like John Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan could strike it rich,” Brands says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

After spending two decades molding Disney into a media colossus, Iger segued into a senior advisory role, which will run through December when he officially retires.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

The show began with a new-agey wash of ocean sounds, that segued seamlessly into her 2024 single, Training Season.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025

As the chuckles subsided, Biden segued back to his prepared remarks by saying, “All kidding aside.”

From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2024

After a time the rolling meadows segued into a golf course.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

The exhibition slips past the complications of World War II with just a few ephemeral examples before segueing into an accumulation of familiar pop-culture products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026

When asked about making a film for Netflix, Damon began by discussing the movie’s action sequences, before segueing into a telling detail about the streamer’s model.

From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2026

Maslany, who portrayed the doomed mother in “The Monkey,” brings an edge to Liz from the start, the character’s romantic anxieties segueing into a fear that something in the house is out to kill her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025

He came on stage strumming an acoustic guitar and playing the exquisite melody of The Wind, before segueing to one of his most beloved songs, Moonshadow.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2023

Snow was falling in earnest now—big silent petals drifting through the springtime woods, white bouquets segueing into snowy dark: a nightmarish topsy-turvy land, something from a story book.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• continuation