Meaning & use

poco

adverb·Advanced

A little, or slightly; a term borrowed from Italian and Spanish, chiefly used in music directions.

See it in a sentence

The conductor asked the strings to play poco softer during the final movement.

"Poco a poco" is a common musical instruction meaning "little by little."

A note on using this word

"Poco" is rarely used in everyday English speech outside music notation, where it modifies terms like "poco allegro," meaning a little fast.

Words with a similar meaning

slightlya little

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

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