staccato

American  

[stuh-kah-toh] / stəˈkɑ toʊ /

adjective

1. shortened and detached when played or sung.

   staccato notes.

2. characterized by performance in which the notes are abruptly disconnected.

   a staccato style of playing.

3. composed of or characterized by abruptly disconnected elements; disjointed.

   rapid-fire, staccato speech.

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adverb

1. in a staccato manner.

noun

plural

staccatos, staccati

1. performance in a staccato manner.

2. a staccato passage.

staccato British  

/ stəˈkɑːtəʊ /

adjective

1. music (of notes) short, clipped, and separate

2. characterized by short abrupt sounds, as in speech

   a staccato command

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adverb

1. (esp used as a musical direction) in a staccato manner

staccato Cultural  

1. A direction in music meaning that the notes should be performed in an abrupt, sharp, clear-cut manner.

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Discover More

The term staccato has been applied generally to things that occur in rapid bursts, such as gunfire.

Etymology

Origin of staccato

1715–25; < Italian: disconnected, past participle of staccare (derivative of stacca pole < Gothic, but taken as a variant of distaccare to detach )

Explanation

Staccato is a musical term for notes that are played quickly and sharply. It can also refer to anything characterized by similar beats, such as the staccato clacking of a woman's high heels on a tile floor. There is nothing quite so pleasant as lying in bed on a Saturday morning listening to the staccato tapping of rain on the roof, knowing that everything you had planned will now be canceled. Other staccato sounds are not so pleasant — like your neighbor learning to play the drums or a jack hammer blaring right outside your window.

Example Sentences

The book’s 47 staccato chapters jump from one subject to another without much of a discernible pattern.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

While on tracks like “Harry Stamper” and “Sábanas,” he embraces whimsical synthesizers and staccato vocal patterns to create a mystical soundscape.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

The progression of the façades from warm rose to pink-cream to mauve-green is knit together by the blues and sienna of the windows, anchored by the staccato pink and green water below.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 11, 2025

How England survive his staccato approach and educated fingers will go a long way to deciding the series.

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2025

The sphinx’s voice was strangely staccato, as if human language were not the tongue it was used to, but its English was perfect.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Related Words

• litany
• recurrence
• reiteration
• repeat
• rhythm