noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The musical effect or technique where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound.

   "He felt his teeth methodically, one after the other, with a vibrato movement of finger and thumb."

2. 2
   (music) a pulsating effect in an instrumental or vocal tone produced by slight and rapid variations in pitch wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bassoonbebungblock flutebombardbourdoncello

Example

More examples

"He felt his teeth methodically, one after the other, with a vibrato movement of finger and thumb."

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian vibrato m, past participle of vibrare (“to vibrate”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.