adj. 1. Music Cut short crisply; detached: staccato octaves. 2. Marked by or composed of abrupt, disconnected parts or sounds: staccato applause. n. pl. stac·ca·tos or stac·ca·ti (-tē) A staccato manner or sound. [Italian, past participle of staccare, to detach, short for distaccare, from obsolete French destacher, from Old French destachier; see DETACH.] stac·cato adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.