Make Your Point: VIRTUOSIC

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pronounce VIRTUOSIC:

vur chew OSS ick

Hear it.

connect this word to others:

What's good, y'all?

How about virtus? It's Latin for "goodness, morality, character, or courage."

You can see how virtus trickled into English words like virtue and virtuous ("honorable, or morally good or strong"), virtual (literally "manly or excellent"), and the words we're checking out today, virtuoso and virtuosic.

The word virtuoso, of course, took a side trip through Italian on its way to English, like many other artistic words did. Like ballet. Speaking of, can you recall a beautiful three-syllable adjective form of ballet? And can you pronounce it? It's ballet__.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

We borrowed the word "virtuouso" from Italian. It has Latin bits that literally mean "(a person with a great deal of) skill or worth."

A virtuoso is an expert, a master: a person who's extremely skilled and accomplished, usually in the field of music.

So, something virtuosic has or shows a very high level of skill and accomplishment in some kind of art, often music.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a virtuosic performance."

Other forms:

People with masterful talent are "virtuosos;" their talent is their "virtuosity" (or less commonly, their "virtuosoship"); and they do things "virtuosically."

If you're talking about more than one virtuoso, you can call them "virtuosos" or, if you prefer, "virtuosi."

Besides "virtuosic," there's another adjective you can use if you prefer: "virtuose."

how to use it:

The adjective "virtuosic" is rare, but it's easy to understand, and its tone is very positive, even gushing.

You might talk or write about virtuosic musicians, writers, actors, painters, or other creators, or about their virtuosic creations or performances.

examples:

"'A vibrant cast and a virtuosic instrumental ensemble, under the baton of Christopher Rountree, brought the score to life."
— Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 6 March 2023

"Sometimes she backs away from big notes abruptly, for dramatic effect or for fear that too much virtuosity would undermine her eccentric charms."
— Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 22 June 2010

has this page helped you understand "virtuosic"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "virtuosic" without saying "superlative" or "unsurpassed."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (is or was) known for their virtuosic (creation or performance of some type)."

Example 1: "Fiona Apple is known for her virtuosic blend of jazz and pop."

Example 2: "Van Halen was known for his mastery of the two-handed tapping technique and for bringing the virtuosic rock guitar solo back into the popular music mainstream in the late 70s and 1980s."
— Ken Murray, The Conversation, 7 October 2020

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Make Your Point Before & After!

I’ll give you a clue, and you give me a verbal mashup including at least one word or phrase we've studied before.

For example, if I give you "It's someone who meets you at the library to join you in a state of deep, serious, often gloomy thoughtfulness," then you give me "brown study buddy." It's a mashup of "brown study" and "study buddy."

Try this one today: In a restaurant or a hotel, it's the one and only thing that makes a room or an area free from cigarette smoke: the absence of cigarette smoke. If you don't got it, then you don't got it.

To reveal the first two hints, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of words in this Before & After is... four, with one hyphen.

Hint 2: The first word in this Before & After is... the Latin "sine."

Hint 3: Use this term.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. One opposite of VIRTUOSIC is

A. PITHY: brief and meaningful.
B. TORPID: dull and sluggish, or numb.
C. GREENHORN: inexperienced, like a beginner.

2. In The Song of Names, Norman Lebrecht likens a character to _____, saying he "juggled three telephone receivers simultaneously, virtuosically and without ever raising his voice."

A. a saint or an angel
B. a pianist or a conductor
C. an engineer or a mathematician

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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