coloratura
Americannoun
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runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music.
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a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in such music.
noun
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(in 18th- and 19th-century arias) a florid virtuoso passage
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( as modifier )
a coloratura aria
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Also called: coloratura soprano. a lyric soprano who specializes in such music
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Elaborate ornamentation in a piece of vocal music. A coloratura soprano is one who can sing such highly ornamented parts.
Etymology
Origin of coloratura
1730–40; < Italian < Late Latin: literally, coloring. See color, -ate 1, -ure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Emma Grimsley’s soprano had the necessary brightness and coloratura flexibility for Manon, but her monochromatic timbre missed the character’s pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
She was a coloratura soprano with an almost freakish vocal range — nearly four octaves, it was said, a voice capable, if any voice is, of the wineglass-shattering stunt of legend.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024
“She is a lyric coloratura, with a relatively small voice that carries in a big auditorium by virtue of its concentrated tone. And she is a complete actress, in voice and movement.”
From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2023
“Of course, darling,” she said, with a coloratura laugh.
From Slate • May 27, 2023
Coloratura Soprano — This is not really a different range from the soprano, but a coloratura soprano has a voice that is unusually high, light, and agile, even for a soprano.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.