Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun art The art of performing a difficult task so gracefully, that it looks effortless.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed from Italian sprezzatura ("nonchalance"), which was coined in 1528 by Baldassare Castiglione; the term gained currency in English in the mid-20th century, often to describe art.

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Examples

  • In order to pull glamour off, you need this Renaissance quality of sprezzatura, which is a term coined by Castiglione in his book, "The Book Of The Courtier."

    Virginia Postrel on glamour Virginia Postrel 2004

  • In order to pull glamour off, you need this Renaissance quality of sprezzatura, which is a term coined by Castiglione in his book, "The Book Of The Courtier."

    Virginia Postrel on glamour Virginia Postrel 2004

  • In order to pull glamour off, you need this Renaissance quality of sprezzatura, which is a term coined by Castiglione in his book, "The Book Of The Courtier."

    Virginia Postrel on glamour Virginia Postrel 2004

  • Ferrari has aged Montezemolo, and while he is still the smart-dressing embodiment of that nonchalance the Italians call sprezzatura, he looks tired and lacks some of the verbal dynamism of 20 years ago.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Andrew English 2011

  • Ferrari has aged Montezemolo, and while he is still the smart-dressing embodiment of that nonchalance the Italians call sprezzatura, he looks tired and lacks some of the verbal dynamism of 20 years ago.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Andrew English 2011

  • But the comment war between Lee Seigel (aka "sprezzatura"), the recently suspended culture critic of the New Republic, and one of his critics is laugh out loud funny (Begin at 16: 57: 44 on 2006-08-27.)

    Medpundit 2006

  • But the comment war between Lee Seigel (aka "sprezzatura"), the recently suspended culture critic of the New Republic, and one of his critics is laugh out loud funny (Begin at 16: 57: 44 on 2006-08-27.)

    Archive 2006-09-01 2006

  • Cynthia: I don't want to know what "sprezzatura" means.

    By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog Steve Evans 2010

  • Cynthia: I don't want to know what "sprezzatura" means.

    By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 2010

  • So a quick Google search on "sprezzatura" leads me to a Wiki page on a Renaissance work about a courtesan's ability to hide or mask what she truly feels.

    KEXP 90.3 Blog 2009

  • Separated by age, geography and cultural milieu, the most visible aesthetic vloggers, Elena Taber, Jenny Welbourn and Orion Carloto, among others, present themselves as an aggregate of their commodities and interests, marrying sprezzatura (“studied carelessness”) with cuteness.

    The grand unified theory of aesthetic vlogging – TechCrunch Henry Pickavet 2021

Comments

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  • This is one of my favorite words of all time.

    January 5, 2007

  • Ease of manner, studied carelessness; the appearance of acting or being done without effort

    February 23, 2007

  • "To get an idea of this sprezzatura at work...one need only recall some of the supreme moments of comic films."

    --Gerald Mast, The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies

    "What, the curtains?"

    December 8, 2008

  • http://sivers.org/sprezzatura

    August 31, 2009

  • 'practiced nonchalance'

    August 20, 2011