fadista means A fado singer. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why “fadista” is a great word
FADISTA — [Noun] A singer, typically Portuguese, whose art is the performance of fado, a genre of melancholic and expressive music born of longing. Borrowed from Portuguese fadista, from fado ("fate, destiny"), from Latin fātum ("that which has been spoken, fate"). Unlike a "cantor" (a generic singer, lacking the specific cultural gravity) or a "vocalist" (a broad, technical designation), a fadista is a vessel for the quiet tragedy of fate accepted. Hers is the raw voice in a dim tavern, the black shawl draped like a personal mourning cloth, the precise tremor on a note that carries the weight of centuries—the human voice made an instrument of resigned grace, singing what has already been spoken.
Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese fadista.
noun
- A fado singer.“[…]in recent years pomo fadistas have mixed it with everything from pop to chamber music.”