Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A man who sings comic opera roles.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) The comic actor in an opera.
Etymologies
- From Italian buffo (Wiktionary)
- Italian, from buffare, to puff, of imitative origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“During this theatre season, the third edition of "Mistero buffo" is born (Palazzina”
“Dante is the Emperor of Words, but the buffo is the Emperor of Deeds.”
“I mean here's a guy whose name on a marquis (ph) used to guarantee a buffo (ph) - I just said "buffo" (ph) - box office.”
“But we scarcely believe a respectable audience would not patronize or encourage Negro buffo songs here.”
“Watching Italy's PM Silvio Berlusconi, France's President Nicholas Sarkozy and other world leaders squirm with embarrassment walking next to Gaddafi decked out in flamboyant, clownish uniforms straight from an Italian "opera buffo" was always amusing.”
The Huffington Post: Eric Margolis: Gaddafi: The Fox Is Cornered
“The opera retains much of the film's dialogue while adding love music for Neruda and his wife, Matilde (Cristina Gallardo-Domas, who is Chilean, looking and sounding exquisite); a buffo-style tenor duet for Neruda and the simple postman Mario (Charles Castronovo), who gradually comes to worship him; and a couple of Neruda's poems, which make perfect arias.”
“Basses can be subdivided into the basso cantante ("singing bass"; Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra), the comic basso buffo (Don Pasquale), or the basso profondo ("deep bass"; Osmin in The Seraglio).”
“Paolo Gavanelli, as the much put upon Geronio (above center), proves again that he is one of the world's great buffo baritones, delivering a spectacular display of parlando (Italian patter).”
The Huffington Post: Rodney Punt: A Turk in Italy Comes to Town in an Airstream Trailer
“Built like a bear, with a rumbling basso buffo voice to match, Eddie Gorodetsky is an off-the-radar celebrity, a star in two separate pop culture universes but little-known except to insiders.”
“If it weren't so tragically unnecessary you could be watching opera buffo at the equally historic Wheeler Opera House, where a developmental tragedy of its own is only now unfolding.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘buffo’.
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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A Night at the Opera
Opera terminology.
sitzprobe, claque, maestro, impresario, divo, diva, spinto, bel canto, falsetto, parlando, pants role, trouser role and 50 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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Favorite Musical Notations
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11th Grade Words for Musical Effects ...
legato, staccato, maestro, dilettante, virtuoso, impresario, buffo
Tweets
Looking for tweets for buffo.
hernesheir (n) opera singer with a comic part. pl. buffi
(adj): comic, burlesque Jan 9, 2009