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Adagio

Dance
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A slow, sustained ballet movement or dance. In poetry, it suggests grace, suspension, and controlled feeling.

Detailed Definition
Adagio comes from ballet, where it names slow, sustained movements requiring balance, poise, and expressive control. A poet may use an adagio as an image for lingering motion, delayed resolution, or emotion held deliberately in check. Its measured pace can contrast with haste, violence, or comic bustle, while its physical difficulty may imply discipline beneath apparent ease. In figurative language, an adagio can make a scene seem suspended in time.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Her adagio grief unfolded slowly, each gesture a held breath” uses the dance’s unhurried movement as a metaphor for sorrow; A poet can describe falling snow as “an adagio of white hands” to suggest grace and slowness; “In adagio, the lovers crossed the stage without touching” creates tension through deliberate restraint; Compare an adagio line with short, rushing lines to show how pacing can imitate different kinds of dance
Additional Notes
Use adagio to slow a poem’s pace through long vowels, extended lines, and images of balance or suspension. Contrast it with allegro for speed and urgency.
Other Meanings of “Adagio”
Also Known As
Adage
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