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Definition of staccato in English:

staccato

Pronunciation /stəˈkädō/ /stəˈkɑdoʊ/

Translate staccato into Spanish

adjective

  • 1Music
    Performed with each note sharply detached or separated from the others.

    Compare with legato

    • ‘a staccato rhythm’
    1. 1.1Consisting of a series of sounds that are each sharply separated from the others.
      ‘the staccato bark of the machine guns’
      • ‘he talks in rapid-fire, staccato sentences’
      • ‘I hear staccato tapping at the window’

adverb

Music

  • With each note sharply detached or separated from the others.

    • ‘I find arpeggio playing is easily done staccato’

nounstaccatos

  • 1Music
    A piece or passage marked to be performed staccato.

    ‘We play opposite articulations: legato in staccato passages, staccato in legato sections.’
    • ‘‘Distant Drums’ is marked by a staccato, open-fifth ostinato pattern in the left hand, over which the chromatic-based melody reigns in the right hand.’
    • ‘Years later when Beth played Mozart Sonatas and Chopin Nocturnes, we experimented with putting down the keys in various ways to get the velvety legatos or sparkling staccatos called for in the music.’
    • ‘It also showcases the skills of the individual musicians, whose temporal coordination, especially with the staccatos and arpeggios inserted into the composition, is commendable.’
    • ‘From adagio to agitato, from legato to staccato, the music guides us through the story with ease and agility.’
    1. 1.1A series of short, sharply separated sounds or words.
      ‘her heels made a rapid staccato on the polished boards’
      • ‘Faily looked around at his gang, and his voice changed from the flat monotone of his recitation of imprinted details to the sharp staccato of his orders.’
      • ‘The heavy staccato of footfalls behind her sounded a bit odd.’
      • ‘She'd sit at the terminal, frowning, cigarette burning in the tray, tapping a rapid staccato.’
      • ‘His fingers tapped at the keys in a rapid staccato.’
      • ‘Soon, the faint pitter-patter crescendoed into the staccato of heavy drops falling on Heinrich's poncho.’
      • ‘The last few words are delivered in a comic staccato.’
      • ‘If you closed your eyes it was easy enough to mistake that sound, that staccato of rifle and gunfire, for rain pattering onto the surface of a raincoat.’
      • ‘Much laughter has been heard, with the staccato of chopping and the thud of pestles meeting mortars.’
      • ‘Then the sound of motorbikes being wheeled out, the irregular repeated staccato of kicks, then the reluctant engines being revved to keep them firing in the cold cold air.’
      • ‘The grotesque flesh-marionettes of the studio audience erupted with a shrill and uneven staccato of laughter.’
      • ‘His speech is staggered and halting, hers an energetic staccato.’
      • ‘My feet thudded to the ground in a fast staccato, beating only a little faster than my racing heart.’
      • ‘The bolts of lightning threw lurid blue patterns across the walls and the rain beat a driving staccato on the roof.’
      • ‘Xavier said gripping his cane as the pair's shoes beat a rhythmic staccato on the linoleum.’
      • ‘During the encounter the complete life sequence of the characters she sees on the road is shown in a staccato of fast-paced edited shots and then the film resumes to Lola's run.’
      • ‘While interesting as a piece of journalism, some comments were vague; for example, we are told that Sargood ‘speaks softly, in a lovely staccato, a spark in her eyes.’’
      • ‘The staccato of gunfire had died and silence filled the hallway.’
      • ‘Vladimir could hear scattered gunfire on the right flank now, a staccato of pops amid the deeper roar of the artillery shells exploding to their rear.’
      • ‘One minute I can hear the birds outside, the staccato of the fan, the light flapping of my bed sheet in the fan draft.’
      • ‘I sigh, crack one eye, and regard the interplay of shadows on the wall, listening to the incessant staccato of the downpour.’

Origin

Italian, literally ‘detached’.