Italian word of the day: 'Mozzafiato'
Here's a word to take your breath away.
When travelling around Italy, you'll come across plenty of scenes that could reasonably be described as mozzafiato - that is, breathtaking.
A fiato is a breath and the verb mozzare means to cut off, so mozzafiato literally means to cut off one's breath.
Dalla terrazza c'è una vista mozzafiato.
There's a breathtaking view from the terrace.
Sei mozzafiato con quel vestito.
You look stunning in that dress.
As well as stunning, mozzafiato can also mean riveting, compelling or thrilling.
Il film ha avuto un finale mozzafiato.
The film had a thrilling ending.
Note that even though mozzafiato is an adjective, its ending doesn't change to agree with the noun it's describing.
That's because the word fiato is still a noun, just contained inside an adjective - changing it to mozzafiata, for example, would make it meaningless.
Alternatively, you could use the formulations da mozzare il fiato or da togliere il fiato - to take one's breath away.
Ho visto il Cirque du Soleil a Las Vegas l'anno scorso: le acrobazie sono da togliere il fiato.
I saw Cirque du Soleil in Vegas last year - the acrobatics are breathtaking.
La struttura è talmente bella da mozzare il fiato.
The building is so beautiful it would take your breath away.
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When travelling around Italy, you'll come across plenty of scenes that could reasonably be described as mozzafiato - that is, breathtaking.
A fiato is a breath and the verb mozzare means to cut off, so mozzafiato literally means to cut off one's breath.
Dalla terrazza c'è una vista mozzafiato.
There's a breathtaking view from the terrace.
Sei mozzafiato con quel vestito.
You look stunning in that dress.
As well as stunning, mozzafiato can also mean riveting, compelling or thrilling.
Il film ha avuto un finale mozzafiato.
The film had a thrilling ending.
Note that even though mozzafiato is an adjective, its ending doesn't change to agree with the noun it's describing.
That's because the word fiato is still a noun, just contained inside an adjective - changing it to mozzafiata, for example, would make it meaningless.
Alternatively, you could use the formulations da mozzare il fiato or da togliere il fiato - to take one's breath away.
Ho visto il Cirque du Soleil a Las Vegas l'anno scorso: le acrobazie sono da togliere il fiato.
I saw Cirque du Soleil in Vegas last year - the acrobatics are breathtaking.
La struttura è talmente bella da mozzare il fiato.
The building is so beautiful it would take your breath away.
Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.
Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.
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