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View synonyms for accolade

accolade

[ ak-uh-leyd, -lahd ]

noun

  1. any award, honor, or laudatory notice:

    The play received accolades from the press.

  2. a light touch on the shoulder with the flat side of the sword or formerly by an embrace, done in the ceremony of conferring knighthood.
  3. the ceremony itself.
  4. Music. a brace joining several staves.
  5. Architecture.
    1. an archivolt or hood molding having more or less the form of an ogee arch.
    2. a decoration having more or less the form of an ogee arch, cut into a lintel or flat arch.


accolade

/ ˈækəˌleɪd; ˌækəˈleɪd /

noun

  1. strong praise or approval; acclaim
  2. an award or honour
  3. the ceremonial gesture used to confer knighthood, originally an embrace, now a touch on the shoulder with a sword
  4. a rare word for brace
  5. architect a curved ornamental moulding, esp one having the shape of an ogee arch
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • ac·co·lad·ed adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of accolade1

First recorded in 1615–25; from French, derivative of accolée “embrace” (with -ade -ade 1 ), noun use of feminine past participle of Old French accoler, verb derivative of col “neck” ( collar ), with a- a- 5
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Word History and Origins

Origin of accolade1

C17: via French and Italian from Vulgar Latin accollāre (unattested) to hug; related to Latin collum neck
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Example Sentences

I played pretty good, productive football while I was there and received a lot of accolades for it.

Existing shareholders are rewarded when stock prices rise, and CEOs reap the benefits via compensation and professional accolade.

From Fortune

Now Facebook wants accolades for its clean-up work, before it even successfully solves the problems it has created.

In March, early in the coronavirus pandemic, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff won accolades for saying the company would not do any “significant layoffs” over a three-month period and would pay its hourly workers while the company’s offices were closed.

From Fortune

The sentiment, intent, objections, and accolades are all there for you to learn from, but you have to invest the time to dive in beyond a high-level engagement graph.

By the way, why is special interests always shady while special needs is practically an accolade?

What Kurland said he remembered most though was not an individual accolade, but a moment that transcended sport.

It was a history-making accolade for Ridley, who became only the second black person to win the Best Screenplay Oscar.

In some ways, “pioneer” is the most lucrative accolade of all.

“Unsung Yugoslavian novelist” is not the sort of accolade that moves a book off of a shelf.

The meanest hind was ennobled by the accolade of martyrdom to the loftiest peerage of the skies.

What sort of an accolade he expected on arriving to keep his passion on its legs, Heaven only knows!

Aylward, you are a trusty soldier, for all that your shoulder has never felt accolade, nor your heels worn the gold spurs.

As she looked proudly down at the hand he had honored with a blow as with an accolade she saw by her watch that it was after six.

Yet on the livery of the countryside the accolade of Frost had wrought a wonder.

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Related Words

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More About Accolade

What is an accolade?

An accolade is an award, honor, or instance of positive acknowledgment or praise.

The word is typically used in the context of honors and praise that have been given to a person throughout their professional career.

It is especially used to refer to prestigious awards and honors that not many people receive.

The adjective accoladed can be used to describe a person who has received many accolades, but the term is rarely used.

The word accolade is also used in a few technical ways in the context of music and architecture.

Example: It would take too long to list her many accolades, which range from professional awards to humanitarian honors to public messages of praise from her peers in the field.

Where does accolade come from?

The first records of the word accolade come from the 1870s. It comes from the French accol(er), meaning “to embrace,” ultimately from col, which means “neck” (and is also the basis of the word collar).

You know that part in movies where the king or queen touches the soon-to-be knight on each shoulder with a sword and says “I knight you Sir So-And-So”? That touch on the shoulder is called the accolade. The word eventually also came to be used to refer to the knighting ceremony itself.

The word was later used in a more general way to mean “an embrace,” and from there took on the meaning involving admiration, praise, and honors.

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What are some other forms related to accolade?

  • accoladed (adjective)

What are some synonyms for accolade?

What are some words that share a root or word element with accolade

What are some words that often get used in discussing accolade?

How is accolade used in real life?

Accolade is typically used in positive contexts. The word implies that the award or honor is prestigious.

Try using accolade!

Is accolade used correctly in the following sentence?

Being honored by her peers was the kind of accolade the painter had only dreamed of.

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