How to Use staccato in a Sentence

staccato

adjective
  • Her voice is staccato and hoarsened by age.
    — Sophie Neiman, NPR, 20 June 2026
  • 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
  • The staccato rhythm of Italian laps at our ears like the waves of the Mediterranean.
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 July 2022
  • Suddenly, a new noise arises, a staccato click of footsteps in the hall.
    — Kate Branch, Vogue, 22 Dec. 2017
  • Court documents tell a staccato story of his childhood and teenage years.
    — Evan Allen, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Dec. 2021
  • Bloom has rapid, staccato ideas, vivid and bright, rapidly shooting out in all directions.
    — Jeffrey Meyers, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022
  • 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
  • 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
  • Her head movements are staccato; her arms are like powerful wings; her hands vibrate as if their fingers shake off sparks.
    — Alastair MacAulay, New York Times, 15 May 2018
  • 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 staccato growl gradually segued into the whine of an electric drill.
    — Joe Keohane, Esquire, 12 Mar. 2013
  • 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
  • The vigorous finale danced through staccato wind melodies and zipping strings, spurred by a ceaseless pounding rhythm.
    — Zoë Madonna, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Apr. 2018
  • Before long, though, his demeanor becomes less benign, his tone sharper, his sentences more staccato and much less sane.
    — Mike D'angelo, Esquire, 7 June 2007
  • The smoky music and staccato dialogue is an homage to American film noir.
    — Dominic P. Papatola, Twin Cities, 6 Mar. 2017
  • 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
  • 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 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Adrenaline rises, blood pressure spikes, heart rate changes, palms grow sweaty, breathing becomes more staccato.
    — Literary Hub, 30 June 2026
  • 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
  • The evening begins with a short standup routine that serves as a way of introducing herself and her unique, staccato delivery.
    — Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register, 20 Jan. 2017
  • 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
  • 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 | [email protected], al, 1 Nov. 2022
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • And our lives are as meaningless as a single, lonely letter, an s with just a hiss that meant nothing, a p sputtered, a t of staccato disapproval.
    — Susan Dominus, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'staccato.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: