- plural of tempo.
tempi
Americannoun
noun
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.
Conductor Corrado Rovaris tended to push the tempi, however, which heightened the excitement but left little space for expressivity and nuance in the rage arias and other moments of high drama.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Nearly two centuries after the composer’s most famous work premiered on May 7, 1824, in Vienna, Austria, there’s disagreement over what tempi the four-movement masterpiece should be performed.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
I’d map out the terrain of the evening and the tempi of movements as though plotting a hike into someone else’s imagination.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 23, 2022
Declining White’s King’s Gambit is perfectly playable for Black, but allowing the king’s bishop to be traded off and wasting several tempi with the queen’s knight get Blood into quick trouble.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 9, 2021
The following are some terms and their beats per minute to help you gauge different tempi.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
