fugue
/ˈfyɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.73 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.
noun
Anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or in its elaborate complexity and formality.
noun
A fugue state.
verb
To improvise, in singing, by introducing vocal ornamentation to fill gaps etc.
Example Sentences
- "Jacobsen's theory about the empty storehouse is still valid, for a myth never has one meaning only; a myth is a polyphonic fugue of many voices."
- "And most of them women, and these only stayed in a fugue state for a relatively short time, like a couple of hours or a couple of days. As far as we know Malenov fugued for close to twenty years."
- "Fugue states can have phases—it's possible she fugued from the start, and only woke to what was happening on that bus."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: French