Word.ws English Dictionary

sprezzatura

sprezzatura noun: the art of performing a difficult task so gracefully that it looks effortless; calculated nonchalance.

Noun

sprezzatura (usually uncountable, plural sprezzaturas)

  1. (usually) The art of performing a difficult task so gracefully that it looks effortless; calculated nonchalance.
    • […] I have found quite a universal rule which in this matter seems to me valid above all others, and in all human affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as though it were some very rough and dangerous reef; and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to...1959, Charles S. Singleton, transl., The Book of the Courtier, translation of Il libro del Cortegiano by Baldassare Castiglione, The First Book, page 43
    • Cassandra Wilson's music is the essence of sprezzatura, or calculated nonchalance, that special attitude described nearly 500 years ago by Baldassare Castiglione in “The Courtier,” his primer on how to ingratiate yourself with the aristocracy.2002 February 19, Ben Ratliff, “Seeming So Nonchalant Can Be Harder Than It Looks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Examples of sprezzatura in a sentence

  • Repin’s technical struggles were all too evident — the very opposite of sprezzatura.2013 August 18, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, “Unloading the Weightiness of Brahms With a Few Flicks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  • In men's fashion the ultimate style move is sprezzatura, embracing intentional errors such as undone buttons and misaligned neckties.2022, W. David Marx, chapter 4, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:

Forms of sprezzatura

pluralsprezzaturas

Origin of sprezzatura

Borrowed from Italian sprezzatura (“nonchalance”), which was coined by Baldassare Castiglione in 1528. The term gained currency in English in the mid-20th century, often to describe art.

Questions about sprezzatura

What does sprezzatura mean?
Sprezzatura means the art of performing a difficult task so gracefully that it looks effortless; calculated nonchalance.
How do you use sprezzatura in a sentence?
Repin’s technical struggles were all too evident — the very opposite of sprezzatura.
What part of speech is sprezzatura?
Sprezzatura is a noun.
What is the plural of sprezzatura?
The plural of sprezzatura is sprezzaturas.

Words near sprezzatura in the dictionary

  1. sprents
  2. spreon
  3. spreons
  4. SPREP
  5. Spreyton
  6. sprezzatura
  7. sprezzaturas
  8. SPRG
  9. spricket
  10. sprickets
  11. Spridget

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sprezzatura (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “sprezzatura.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sprezzatura. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.