allegretto

American  

[al-i-gret-oh, ahl-le-gret-taw] / ˌæl ɪˈgrɛt oʊ, ˌɑl lɛˈgrɛt tɔ /

adjective

1. light, graceful, and moderately fast in tempo.

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noun

plural

allegrettos

1. an allegretto movement.

allegretto British  

/ ˌælɪˈɡrɛtəʊ /

adjective

1. (to be performed) fairly quickly or briskly

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noun

1. a piece or passage to be performed in this manner

Etymology

Origin of allegretto

1730–40; < Italian, equivalent to allegr ( o ) allegro + -etto -et

Example Sentences

It’s in the allegretto third movement that No. 8’s Russian colors begin to show.

From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2022

Even Elham, her W’s no longer sounding like V’s, and her tempo improved from largo to allegretto, is eventually able to pose a challenge to Omid’s fluency.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2022

A spiritual, harmonically inventive composition, it climaxes with an allegretto apparently modelled after the African-American "juba" dance once practised on US plantations.

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2021

The idyll begins straightway, Andantino quasi allegretto, winds through all kinds of scenes and storms, then sings again dolce e cantabile.

From Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies by Goepp, Philip H.

Less pronounced, but very beautiful, is the allegretto from the so-called "Moonlight Sonata," opus 27, No. 2.

From The Masters and their Music A series of illustrative programs with biographical, esthetical, and critical annotations by Mathews, W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock)