Meaning
to brush over, to touch lightly
- to skim over (a topic)
- to nearly achieve (but not succeed in)
- to be on the verge of
In a sentence
Mi ha sfiorato il braccio passando.
He brushed my arm while passing.
Hai solo sfiorato l'argomento, puoi spiegare meglio?
You only skimmed over the topic, can you explain better?
Abbiamo sfiorato la vittoria ieri sera.
We nearly won last night.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| sfiorare | infinitive |
| sfioriamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| sfioro | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| sfiorate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiori | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiora | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| sfioravamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| sfioravo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| sfioravate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| sfioravi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| sfioravano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiorava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| sfiorammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| sfiorai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| sfioraste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiorasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiorò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| sfioreremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| sfiorerò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| sfiorerete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiorerai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| sfioreranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiorerà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| sfioriamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| sfiori | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| sfioriate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiori | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiori | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| sfiorassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| sfiorassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| sfioraste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiorassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiorasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| sfioreremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| sfiorerei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| sfiorereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| sfioreresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorerebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| sfiorerebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| sfioriamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| sfiorate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| sfiora | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| sfiorando | gerund |
| sfiorato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Use sfiorare for a very slight contact; toccare is more neutral and direct, accarezzare suggests a gentle caress.
- With abstract nouns, it often means coming very close: sfiorare la vittoria, sfiorare il ridicolo.
- For topics, sfiorare is common in speech and writing; approfondire means to treat a topic in depth.