How to Use staccato in a Sentence

staccato

adjective

• The staccato rhythm of Italian laps at our ears like the waves of the Mediterranean.
  — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 July 2022
• The staccato pops of gunfire mixed with the roar of planes taking off.
  — Mark Landler, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2021
• Male grouse use their wings to make the loud, staccato sound in an effort to attract mates.
  — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 May 2018
• His letters each had the staccato rhythm of a ransom note.
  — Mike Kerrigan, WSJ, 23 Dec. 2018
• Lizandro, taller and lither, glides across the pitch, while the stockier Diego moves with a more staccato burst.
  — Ben Teitelbaum, SI.com, 27 Feb. 2018
• At the outset, the keyboards are staccato and spare, with the dancers appearing to move, ghost-like, on the monochromatic screen.
  — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2021
• A few feet away, the actor playing the free man of color held forth in a brown three-piece suit and halting staccato to a growing crowd.
  — Sarah M. Broom, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2019
• In the Balboa, Mozart’s opening staccato notes in the strings had a bite rarely encountered in other venues.
  — San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2019
• Suddenly, a new noise arises, a staccato click of footsteps in the hall.
  — Kate Branch, Vogue, 22 Dec. 2017
• The staccato pace of the tragedies, echoing the fusillade of gunfire, can leave little time to absorb their full import.
  — Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2021
• In the decades that followed, her staccato footfall was as integral to Arles as the sound of the mistral, the rattling Provençal wind.
  — Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2020
• Cosell punched up each word, staccato-style in a frenzy that night in 1973, when George Foreman rocked Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight crown.
  — Ben Walker, The Seattle Times, 2 June 2018
• One panelist tried to interject, but Williams pressed on, her voice becoming harsh and staccato as the tide in the room moved against her.
  — New York Times, 2 Feb. 2021
• The two pitches that made the difference left Blach’s hand, but blame the Giants’ staccato offense.
  — Andrew Baggarly, The Mercury News, 18 June 2017
• Those crying remove themselves from the circle, their staccato wails fill the small cemetery like a bird song.
  — Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, 20 June 2019
• There’s a wonderful presence of time as a kind of medium in the film — a sort of a legato smoothness to the long takes, and then things move into this more staccato third act.
  — Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2022
• Wachtel, who played the simple-staccato groove on the song’s original recording, stretched out for bluesy licks, before the whole band returned to lock in.
  — Matt Wake | [e-mail], al, 1 Nov. 2022
• No small part of the charm of exploring Idaho place names and their stories is the sheer music of saying those names — whether staccato and amusing or long and sonorous.
  — Arthur Hart, idahostatesman, 16 Dec. 2017
• The staccato pop of gunfire became a nightly soundtrack, and police were sometimes nowhere to be found or slow to respond.
  — Libor Jany, Star Tribune, 11 Nov. 2020
• The staccato growl gradually segued into the whine of an electric drill.
  — Joe Keohane, Esquire, 12 Mar. 2013
• Bloom has rapid, staccato ideas, vivid and bright, rapidly shooting out in all directions.
  — Jeffrey Meyers, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022
• Court documents tell a staccato story of his childhood and teenage years.
  — Evan Allen, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Dec. 2021
• The staccato pattern of our conversation forced me to slow down and choose my words carefully, to think about their impact.
  — New York Times, 17 Mar. 2020
• The mule responded by issuing a staccato stream of farts.
  — Susan Casey, Field & Stream, 6 Dec. 2020
• The next is to try to keep from falling flat on your face as Beal dances from full-speed dribbles to sudden stops, crossing and countering and pump faking in a staccato rhythm.
  — Julia Poe, chicagotribune.com, 8 Jan. 2022
• As the musicians strum, pick, beat, clap, and sing, her heels break into staccato rhythmic patterns.
  — Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2019
• The smoky music and staccato dialogue is an homage to American film noir.
  — Dominic P. Papatola, Twin Cities, 6 Mar. 2017
• With twitching whiskers and staccato-like movements, the nocturnal rodent searches for seeds and grain to store in its cheek pouches.
  — Ben Brazil, Daily Pilot, 27 July 2019
• Still, the final minutes dragged out at a staccato pace as a series of shot-clock glitches jolted the game to consecutive halts.
  — Julia Poe, chicagotribune.com, 27 Mar. 2022
• David Hardy’s cello was a special highlight, drawing a beautiful singing line over a staccato repeat of the main theme.
  — Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2022

Last Updated: 4 Nov 2024