[It. brio mettle, fire, life; in the musical phrase con brio.] Liveliness, vivacity, ‘go.’
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xxii. Painted with all his well-known facility and brio.
1881. K. Hillebrand, in Contemp. Rev., June, 879. Still this Italian Society, in spite of its ready wit, its brio, and its in-born gracefulness, had not … the peculiar charm of French and Spanish Society.
