staccato

/stəˈkɑːtoʊ/

staccato noun: 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.

Noun

staccato (plural staccatos or staccati)

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.
A passage having this mark.
(figuratively) Any sound resembling a musical staccato.
- According to the syllable-timed hypothesis, Spanish syllables as staccato.
- The tumultuous noise resolved itself now into the disorderly mingling of many voices, the gride of many wheels, the creaking of waggons, and the staccato of hoofs.1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 160

Adverb

staccato (comparative more staccato, superlative most staccato)

played in this style
- Now, play the same passage very staccato.

Adjective

staccato (comparative more staccato, superlative most staccato)

Describing a passage having this mark.
Made up of abruptly disconnected parts or sounds.
- The same nervous staccato laugh broke from her thin lips, and her fingers began to play with a long tortoise-shell paper-knife.1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
- A kind of tense peace, like the centre of a cyclone, descended. Not for long, of course, for already stealing upon one's hearing would be the staccato bark and thrust of the banker bringing up the rear.1953 December, Henry Maxwell, “The Folkestone Harbour Branch: Some Evocations”, in Railway Magazine, page 809

staccato meaning in Tamil

staccato in Tamil

திக்குப் பேச்சு, பேச்சு உதறல்

Examples of staccato in a sentence

The articulation in this piece is tricky because it alternates between legato and staccato.
Each staccato flare of light was glaring and vehement and expanded into the corners of the room.
A majority also called loudly with a short staccato sequence of 3–5 kaws at the start of the feeding session.

All 11 example sentences with staccato

Antonyms of staccato

legato

Forms of staccato

Noun
plural	staccatos
plural	staccati
Adverb
comparative	more staccato
superlative	most staccato
Adjective
comparative	more staccato
superlative	most staccato

Origin of staccato

Borrowed from Italian staccato (“detached, disconnected”), past participle of staccare (“to detach, separate”), aphetic variant of distaccare (“to separate, detach”), from Middle French destacher (“to detach”), from Old French destachier (“to detach”), from des- + atachier (“to attach”), alteration of estachier (“to fasten with or to a stake, lay claim to”), from estache (“a stake”), from Low Frankish *stakkā (“stake”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz, *stakô (“stick, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“stick, stake”). Akin to Old High German stecko (“post”) (German Stecken (“stick”)), Old Saxon stekko (“stake”), Old Norse stakkr (“hay stack, heap”), Old English staca (“stake”). More at stake.

Words that rhyme with staccato

Questions about staccato

What does staccato mean?: Staccato means 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.
What is staccato in Tamil?: Staccato in Tamil is திக்குப் பேச்சு, பேச்சு உதறல். See Staccato meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is staccato?: Staccato can be a noun, an adverb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce staccato?: Staccato is pronounced /stəˈkɑːtoʊ/.
What is the plural of staccato?: The plural of staccato is staccatos.

Words near staccato in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: staccato (page history and authors); staccato (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-staccato.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-staccato.wav.

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