Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. In a moderately quick tempo, usually considered to be slightly slower than allegro but faster than andante. Used chiefly as a direction.
- n. An allegretto passage or movement.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In music, quicker in time than andante, but not so quick as allegro.
- n. A movement in such time.
Wiktionary
- adv. music A direction in musical notation indicating that the musical piece should be played rather fast and lively.
- n. music A movement in this time.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Mus.) Quicker than
andante , but not so quick asallegro .
WordNet 3.0
- adj. (of tempo) faster than allegro
- adv. in a moderately quick tempo
- n. a quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro
- n. a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro
Etymologies
- Borrowed from Italian allegretto, diminutive form of allegro. (Wiktionary)
- Italian, diminutive of allegro, allegro; see allegro. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Swiftness and clarity aside, one distinguishing feature was the limited use of string vibrato, now common practice but here especially effective in the seventh's allegretto, the not very slow "slow" movement.”
The Guardian: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Chailly; Castor and Pollux– review
“The minuet, which is marked allegretto, has the spirit and sound of a scherzo and ought to be played like one.”
“I then switch my mind to playing internally the allegretto movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony before saying anything.”
An Astronomical Perspective on Climate Change | Universe Today
“He marked the movement allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, pero non troppo adagio, cosi-cosi, con molto garbo ed espressione.”
“HOFFMAN: Graceful allegretto but not too fast, but not too slow, so-so, with lots of elegance and expression.”
“May 23, 2006, 10: 18 am auto insurance fraud says: auto insurance fraud inquisitively! allegretto bantering gallery digressing”
“It's a minor tune in 6/8, a slow allegretto in the key of F.”
“It ought to have been all gay, allegro, allegretto, in that sparkle of bright air and old roof surfaces.”
“The intense, allegretto parts had my heart pounding -- though that could've been the timpani at work.”
“Mozart paused, startled, by a pet shop door and listened to the allegretto theme from his own piano concerto in G-Major repeated by a starling in a cage.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘allegretto’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Tournure tour a-far
springbok, fluent, allegretto, aplomb, viscosity, centipoise, poize, presence, scalebeam, leggiadrous, grazioso, cachucha and 22 more...
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elvesoncrack's Words
lachrymose, blustering, fjord, chihuahua, chiffon, catalytic, stile, gefilte, prosh, thwart, ralph, ickle and 379 more...
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A Matter Of Time
Favorite time-related words.
vespertine, twilight, gloaming, eftsoon, eventide, dawn, eos, dusk, witching hour, ephemeral, candlemark, autumnal and 122 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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Tempo Indications
larghissimo, largo, larghetto, adagissimo, adagio, adagietto, lentissimo, lento, andante, andantino, moderato, allegretto and 27 more...
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/captrap\
ebullience, prestigious, razzle, derelict, decrepit, adieu, ennui, oblique, allegretto, shatter, fantastical, chandelier and 67 more...
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Music Terms
major third, minor third, staccato, power pop, adagio, largo, vivace, choral, adantino, andante, allegretto, air and 7 more...
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auteur's Words
shame, fail, hydrogenous, silicon, frap, frag, owned, prettymuch, apothecary, sucks to be you, pretentious, quantum and 75 more...
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librarymistress's Words
lachrymose, dandelion, marygold, dreamy, librarian, jot, prinzipienreiter, quargel, stupefy, expelliarmus, alohomora, morsmordre and 86 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for allegretto.

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