Scherzo Definition

skĕrtsō
scherzi, scherzos
noun
A lively, playful composition, usually in 3/4 time.
Webster's New World
Such a piece serving as a movement, typically the third movement, of a sonata, symphony, or quartet.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Scherzo

Noun

Singular:
scherzo
Plural:
scherzi, scherzos

Origin of Scherzo

  • From Italian scherzo (“joke, play"), from scherzare (“to joke, jest") from Old Italian scherzare, from Lombardic *skerzan (“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest") from Proto-Germanic *skirtanÄ… (“to hop, jump"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerǝd- (“to dance, jump"). Akin to Middle High German scherzen "to frolic, jump merrily, hop up and down" (German scherzen "to joke"; Scherz "joke, sport"), Norwegian skjerta "to joke".

    From Wiktionary

  • Italian joke, scherzo from Old Italian scherzare to joke perhaps of Germanic origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Scherzo Sentence Examples

  • The third movement is a short, fast scherzo with a trio which returns in the coda.

  • The Scherzo's central section begins sotto voce, the melody almost hidden in the alto voice.

  • The Scherzo is rhythmically alive, the rhythms punctuated by timpani thwacks; shadows hang over the Lento.

  • One gets a deeply-felt elegy, the other a vicious scherzo - no prizes for guessing which!

  • The second nocturne is a fleeting scherzo retracing the same ground three times and culminating in a short cadenza for the horn.

More Sentences

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to scherzo using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

SSCSCH

Words Ending With

OZORZO

Unscrambles

scherzo

Words Starting With S and Ending With O

Starts With S & Ends With OStarts With SC & Ends With OStarts With S & Ends With ZO

Word Length

7 Letter Words7 Letter Words Starting With S7 Letter Words Ending With O