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
