In this article, we delve into the essence of the Italian adjective giocoso, which usually translates as playful or jovial.
Giocoso is an adjective whose form changes depending on what it describes. In its masculine form, it ends in -o and in its feminine form, -a. The respective plurals are -i and -e.
- un bambino giocoso = a playful boy / child
- una bambina giocosa = a playful girl
- i bambini giocosi = the playful boys / children
- le bambine giocose = the playful girls
It comes from the Latin iocosus meaning scherzoso (joking, playful), which in turn is derived from iocus (scherzo = joke, trick).
Il bambino giocoso mi ha fatto uno sguardo birichino.
The playful child gave me a mischievous look.
Giocoso can also mean ironic or light-hearted, especially in reference to literature, music or art. Additionally, you can have opera giocosa (comic opera) and poesia giocosa, which means burlesque poetry.
Some related terms include:
- gioco = game, toy
- giocosità = cheerfulness
- giocosamente = playfully
- giocoleria = juggling
- giocoliere = juggler
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Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
