virtuosity
AmericanEtymology
Origin of virtuosity
First recorded in 1665–75; virtuos(o) + -ity
Explanation
Use the noun virtuosity to describe an impressive skill, such as a classical musician's virtuosity at playing the cello. Lots of people have talents, but only a select few, called virtuosos, have the superior quality of virtuosity. A piano virtuoso, for example, is able to play and improvise at the highest level possible. People can also display virtuosity in speaking, in writing computer code, in cooking, or in other skills. In the late fifteenth century, virtuosity specifically meant "manly qualities," from the Latin root virtutem, "manliness, valor, or excellence."
Vocabulary lists containing virtuosity
1984
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Hamilton
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The Chosen
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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.
Dolly Parton, a national treasure whose country music career married grit and wit, faith and sex appeal, virtuosity and plastic surgery, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
It was a display of instrumental virtuosity in the spirit of Busby’s hero, Bill Monroe, who had reworked traditional string-band music into a radical fusion of old and new.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The city’s music, famed for rough-hewn virtuosity from blues to soul to techno, is the spring that waters “Adversity.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Towns has always been an elite shooter, but not not ago, it was easy to find Knicks fans fed up with the big man’s ambivalent defense and virtuosity at collecting foolish fouls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, never once repeating itself, almost as though the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
