virtuoso

Borrowed from Italian virtuoso, from Late Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”), from Latin virtus (“excellence”). Doublet of virtuous.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌvɜ.tʃuˈəʊ.səʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌvɝ.t͡ʃuˈoʊ.soʊ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vir‧tu‧o‧so

virtuoso (plural virtuosos or virtuosi)

1. (now historical) An expert in virtù or art objects and antiquities; a connoisseur. [from 17th c.]
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 10, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, page 224:

     For, besides the extraordinary Neatness of the Room, it was adorned with a great Number of Nicknacks, and Curiosities, which might have engaged the Attention of a Virtuoso.

2. Someone with special skill or knowledge; an expert. [from 17th c.]
   • 1907, The Messenger, page 147:

     The prefect who officiated on this occasion was a "tolley" virtuoso, and he did his best to bring out the resources of his instrument.

   • 2025 October 11, Jo Ellison, “The forever 35 face of fashion”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 23:

     Facial surgeons are now virtuosi.

3. Specifically, a musician (or other performer) with masterly ability, technique, or personal style. [from 18th c.]

virtuoso (comparative more virtuoso, superlative most virtuoso)

1. Exhibiting the ability of a virtuoso.
   • 2007 October 20, Seth Mydans, “Thai Police Arrest Pedophile Suspect”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 November 2020:

     On Friday, the Thai police said he was under arrest and charged as a pedophile after computer experts had unswirled the digitally altered face in a virtuoso act of electronic decoding.

   • 2024 April 3, Phil McNulty, “Man City 4-1 Aston Villa: Phil Foden produces 'masterclass' to show worth again”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     Instead, he was able to sit alongside De Bruyne on the City bench admiring a virtuoso performance from Foden, pulling every string in the number 10 role and illustrating again why he is so important to Guardiola, and why he simply must start for Gareth Southgate's England at Euro 2024.

Borrowed from Late Latin virtuōsus. By surface analysis, virtù +‎ -oso.

• IPA^(key): /vir.tuˈo.zo/, (traditional) /vir.tuˈo.so/, /virˈtwo.zo/, (traditional) /virˈtwo.so/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ozo, (traditional) -oso
• Hyphenation: vir‧tu‧ó‧so, vir‧tuó‧so

virtuoso (feminine virtuosa, masculine plural virtuosi, feminine plural virtuose, superlative virtuosissimo)

1. virtuous
2. skilful
3. upright

• virtuosamente
• virtuosismo
• virtuosistico
• virtuosità

virtuoso m (plural virtuosi, feminine virtuosa)

1. virtuoso, master (of an instrument)

• → English: virtuoso
• → French: virtuose
  • → Russian: виртуоз (virtuoz)
    • → Georgian: ვირტუოზი (virṭuozi)
• → Swedish: virtuos

• ostruivo

virtuōsō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of virtuōsus

• Hyphenation: vir‧tu‧o‧so

Learned borrowing from Late Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”), from Latin virtūs + -ōsus.

virtuoso (feminine virtuosa, masculine plural virtuosos, feminine plural virtuosas, comparable, comparative mais virtuoso, superlative o mais virtuoso or virtuosíssimo, metaphonic)

1. virtuous (full of virtues)

virtuoso m (plural virtuosos, feminine virtuosa, feminine plural virtuosas, metaphonic)

1. a virtuous person

Borrowed from Italian virtuoso, from Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”).

• virtuose

virtuoso (feminine virtuosa, masculine plural virtuosos, feminine plural virtuosas, comparable, comparative mais virtuoso, superlative o mais virtuoso or virtuosíssimo, metaphonic)

1. virtuoso (with masterly ability)

virtuoso m (plural virtuosos, feminine virtuosa, feminine plural virtuosas, metaphonic)

1. virtuoso (person with masterly ability)

• “virtuoso”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “virtuoso”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /biɾˈtwoso/ [biɾˈt̪wo.so]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oso
• Syllabification: vir‧tuo‧so

Borrowed from Late Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”), from Latin virtūs + -ōsus.

virtuoso (feminine virtuosa, masculine plural virtuosos, feminine plural virtuosas)

1. virtuous

virtuoso m (plural virtuosos, feminine virtuosa, feminine plural virtuosas)

1. virtuous person

Borrowed from Italian virtuoso, from Latin virtuōsus (“virtuous”).

virtuoso (feminine virtuosa, masculine plural virtuosos, feminine plural virtuosas)

1. virtuoso (exhibiting the ability of a virtuoso)

virtuoso m (plural virtuosos, feminine virtuosa, feminine plural virtuosas)

1. virtuoso

• “virtuoso”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025