Meaning
quick
- brisk
- quick-witted
In a sentence
Lei è molto svelta a risolvere i problemi.
She is very quick at solving problems.
Puoi essere più svelto, per favore?
Can you be quicker, please?
Stamattina siamo stati svelti e siamo usciti presto.
This morning we were quick and left early.
Word forms (4)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| svelto | masculine · singular |
| svelta | feminine · singular |
| svelti | masculine · plural |
| svelte | feminine · plural |
Usage notes
- Use svelto mostly for people, movements, or doing something fast. For vehicles, machines, or speed in general, veloce is usually more natural.
- As an adjective it agrees: ragazzo svelto, ragazza svelta, bambini svelti. As an adverb, use in fretta or velocemente, not *sveltamente in everyday speech.
- Svelto can also mean mentally sharp. In that sense, sveglio is a common near-synonym, often more colloquial.