virtuosity

noun

vir·​tu·​os·​i·​ty ˌvər-chü-ˈä-sə-tē 

plural virtuosities

1

: great technical skill (as in the practice of a fine art)

2

: a taste for or interest in virtu

Did you know?

Virtuosity is used particularly to describe musicians, but also often for writers, actors, dancers, and athletes. A virtuoso is a highly skilled performer, and a virtuoso performance is one that astonishes the audience by its feats. In ancient Greece the cities would hold male competitions in acrobatics, conjuring, public reciting, blowing the trumpet, and acting out scenes from Homer's epics, the winners of which would have been praised as virtuous, or "full of manly virtues".

Examples of virtuosity in a Sentence

Her virtuosity on the piano is amazing.

Recent Examples on the Web

Pinney’s bold and free conception of how a drama is constituted, and its inseparability from time and memory, displays a rare associative virtuosity. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 12 June 2026

But the media dug the myth a little too much; their consuming embrace of it carried a racist undertone, as if Basquiat could only be understood as a derelict version of virtuosity. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 June 2026

His virtuosity as a world-class vocalist was second to none. —Daniela Avila, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026

In Night Walking, 1964, for instance, her tonal virtuosity is just beginning to percolate. —Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for virtuosity

• atrocity
• ferocity
• monstrosity
• pomposity
• porosity
• precocity
• schistosity
• velocity
• verbosity
• viscosity
• animosity
• curiosity

Kids Definition

virtuosity

noun

vir·​tu·​os·​i·​ty ˌvər-chə-ˈwäs-ət-ē 

plural virtuosities

: great performing ability in the fine arts