Meaning & use

meno mosso

phrase·Advanced

A musical direction meaning to play more slowly than the preceding passage, literally 'less moved' in Italian.

See it in a sentence

The conductor marked meno mosso above the final verse to slow the tempo.

After the fast chorus, the score shifts to meno mosso for a gentler ending.

A note on using this word

Meno mosso is relative, telling performers to slow down compared with the previous section rather than naming an exact tempo.

Words with a similar meaning

slower

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

più mosso

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “meno mosso”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.