accolade
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction.
Pronunciation
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
An expression of approval; praise.
An embrace of greeting or salutation.
A special acknowledgment; an award.
verb
transitive
To confer praise or awards on.
transitive
To embrace or kiss in salutation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An embrace of greeting or salutation.
This meaning of 'accolade' is quite old-fashioned and less common today. Historically, it referred to a physical embrace or touch, often associated with a knighting ceremony or a warm greeting. It evokes a formal, ceremonial touch.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Historical novels
“The knight knelt to receive the king's accolade.”
Poetry
“A soft accolade greeted him at the castle gates.”
Dramatic texts
“She offered a warm accolade to her returning friend.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.