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Staccato

/stəˈkɑːtoʊ/

An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.

Full Dictionary Entry

📖 Definitions of "Staccato"

noun

1
An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.
2
A passage having this mark.
3
Any sound resembling a musical staccato.

adjective

1
Describing a passage having this mark.
2
Made up of abruptly disconnected parts or sounds.

adverb

1
Played in this style
"Now, play the same passage very staccato."

🔄 Synonyms of "Staccato"

2 synonyms found via WordNet and Google Books.

Word	Definition
abruptverb	Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
disconnected	That is no longer connected.

↔️ Antonyms of "Staccato"

Words with the opposite meaning.

Word	Definition
smoothnoun	Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
legatonoun	(music) A style of performance characterized by smoothly connected notes.

💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Staccato"

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
abruptverb	Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
disconnected	That is no longer connected.
acciaccaturanoun	(music) A short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.
acciacaturanoun	Misspelling of acciaccatura. [(music) A short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.]
stemnoun	The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.
adagionoun	(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played rather slowly, leisurely and gracefully.
accent marknoun	(linguistics, strictly) A diacritical mark or character used in writing to indicate the place of stress (spoken accent), or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked (such as long vowel versus short vowel).
slurnoun	An extremely offensive and socially unacceptable term targeted at a group of people (such as an ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.).
agitatonoun	(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played in a restless agitated style.
abbreviationnoun	(linguistics) A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used to represent the whole, using omission of letters, and sometimes substitution of letters, or duplication of initial letters to signify plurality, including signs such as +, =, @.
adagiettonoun	(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played slightly faster than adagio.
restnoun	(uncountable, of a person or animal) Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
fermatanoun	(music) The holding of a note or rest for longer than its usual duration.
notenoun	A symbol or annotation.
linenoun	A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
spacenoun	(heading) Unlimited or generalized extent, physical or otherwise.
pointnoun	A small dot or mark.
breakingnoun	The act by which something is broken.
accentnoun	(linguistics, sociolinguistics) The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
scioltonoun	(music) A directive in a score specifying that the music is to be played in this manner.