staccato

[ stuh-kah-toh ]

adjective

1. shortened and detached when played or sung:

   staccato notes.

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

   a staccato style of playing.

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

   rapid-fire, staccato speech.

adverb

1. in a staccato manner.

noun

, plural stac·ca·tos, stac·ca·ti [st, uh, -, kah, -tee].

1. performance in a staccato manner.
2. a staccato passage.

staccato

/ stəˈkɑːtəʊ /

adjective

1. music (of notes) short, clipped, and separate
2. characterized by short abrupt sounds, as in speech

   a staccato command

adverb

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

staccato

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

Notes

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of staccato¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of staccato¹

C18: from Italian, from staccare to detach, shortened from distaccare

Example Sentences

Her staccato commentary intercut with squealing tires, Jones flung her virtual car around the virtual track at 120 miles per hour—then 140, 150—chasing the fastest Gran Turismo driver in the world.

From MIT Technology Review

However, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan’s sultry vocals and staccato keys on “Come Undone” are smooth and clear when Music mode is triggered.

From Popular-Science

I scrolled back to the beginning of the song so I could listen more closely, only now, the staccato ring-ding was materializing in different places.

From Washington Post

One reason these numbers have been climbing, Grandjean suspects, is the means by which the news is increasingly delivered these days, for instance, in staccato alerts via social media.

From Freakonomics

Cantonese, with its individual characters, also forces rappers to adopt a staccato lyricism.

From The Daily Beast

There are racier diaries, too—complete with a minute-by-minute staccato of one sexual fantasy after the next.

From The Daily Beast

Then a silence ensued, broken at first by sporadic and staccato remarks, then becoming as dense as the silences of the night.

From Project Gutenberg

There came a staccato series of minor explosions—defiant gesture, thought Beardsley!

From Project Gutenberg

Safe enough for the time being, said Doctor Fortier, breaking in in quick, staccato tones.

From Project Gutenberg

The shrill staccato words of the women set the child trembling.

From Project Gutenberg

She stood still on the sidewalk, exploding into tiny, staccato sentences.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• litany
• recurrence
• reiteration
• repeat
• rhythm