adagio
noun
plural adagios
1
: a musical composition or movement in adagio tempo
2
: a ballet duet by a man and woman or a mixed trio displaying difficult feats of balance, lifting, or spinning
Examples of adagio in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bach’s Mass in B Minor begins with a majestic howl of pain—four adagio bars that combine formal grandeur with writhing interior lines, as if figures in a cathedral frieze of the Last Judgment were coming to life.
—
Alex Ross, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
Two-thirds of the way through, a piano in adagio gave way to a blossoming string orchestra.
—Literary Hub, 6 May 2025
One dancer did classical ballet steps on a Parisian rooftop, including an expressive adagio.
—NBC News, 27 July 2024
Advertisement The adagio, with pulsating string textures and grinding suspensions over dutiful baroque harmonic sequences leads into an aggressive, if academic, fugue.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for adagio
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Alex Ross, New Yorker, 23 June 2025
Two-thirds of the way through, a piano in adagio gave way to a blossoming string orchestra.
—Literary Hub, 6 May 2025
One dancer did classical ballet steps on a Parisian rooftop, including an expressive adagio.
—NBC News, 27 July 2024
Advertisement The adagio, with pulsating string textures and grinding suspensions over dutiful baroque harmonic sequences leads into an aggressive, if academic, fugue.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for adagio
Cite this Entry
“Adagio.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adagio. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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