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sprezzatura

By Richard Nordquist, About.com

Definition:

The rehearsed spontaneity, studied carelessness, and well-practiced naturalness that underlies persuasive discourse. (The opposite of sprezzatura is affectazione--affectation.) See also:

Etymology:

Coined by Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier (1528): "[T]o avoid affectation in every way possible . . . and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain Sprezzatura [nonchalance], so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it."

Examples and Observations:

  • "Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee."
    (Muhammed Ali)


  • "And all you got to do is act naturally."
    (Morrison and Russell, "Act Naturally")


  • "A good style should show no sign of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident."
    (W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up, 1938)


  • "Writers are not mere copyists of language; they are polishers, embellishers, perfecters. They spend hours getting the timing right--so that what they write sounds completely unrehearsed."
    (Louis Menand, "Bad Comma," The New Yorker, June 28, 2004)


  • "It takes a great deal of experience to become natural."
    (Willa Cather)


  • "In the presidential debates, everything that the candidates say will have been carefully rehearsed including the ad lib remarks. . . . What a candidate has to do is to memorize the answers to a bunch of questions and know how to look sincere. As a TV producer said, 'If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.'"
    (Molly Ivins, 1991)


  • "Being prepared is the key to rehearsed spontaneity in public speaking. Before making a remark, pause and look up like you are searching for something to say. The audience will think you are creating the humor on the spot."
    (Scott Friedmann, "Public Speaking: Laws of Humor")
Pronunciation: SPRETT-sa-toor-ah

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