cachet

noun ca·chet \ ka-ˈshā \

|Updated on: 9 Jul 2018

Examples: cachet in a Sentence

Editor's Note: How do you pronounce cachet?

1 a : a seal used especially as a mark of official approval

b : an indication of approval carrying great prestige

The president placed his cachet on the project.

2 a : a characteristic feature or quality conferring prestige

regarded the possession of real estate as a cachet of respectability

b : prestige

being rich … doesn't have the cachet it used to
—Truman Capote

3 : a medicinal preparation for swallowing consisting of a case usually of rice-flour paste enclosing a medicine

4 a : a design or inscription on an envelope to commemorate a postal or philatelic event

b : an advertisement forming part of a postage meter impression

c : a motto or slogan included in a postal cancellation (see cancellation 3)

See cachet defined for English-language learners

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Examples of cachet in a Sentence

a movie director with great artistic cachet
His research in Antarctica gave him a certain cachet among other scientists.

Recent Examples of cachet from the Web

Sonnenfeld said the Fox brand has lost its cachet among many in the politically left-leaning entertainment industry.

— stephen battaglio, latimes.com, "Fox rift widens as 'Modern Family' co-creator Steve Levitan and others blast news coverage of immigration," 20 June 2018
For all its halting attempts to develop soft power — through language institutes, cultural programs or loans of its most effective ambassador, the giant panda — China understands that few realms match soccer’s reach, influence or cachet.

— New York Times, "China Won’t Play in This World Cup. It Still Hopes to Profit.," 30 May 2018
Tell me all about it: This home features a whopping 9,280 square feet as well as historic cachet.

— shannon rooney, Philly.com, "Who needs the ocean? Three Bucks County homes with waterfront views," 29 May 2018
Closing out the festival is Eminem (9:10 p.m.), who’s managed to maintain one of music’s most rabid fan bases even as his critical and cultural cachet has taken a nosedive in recent years.

— terence cawley, BostonGlobe.com, "Too many choices at Boston Calling? Here’s some help.," 23 May 2018
Girls who wore Coach were keyed into the new symbols of social cachet: wearing brand names emblazoned across your butt and monograms on your teeny tiny purse.

— kristen martin, The Cut, "Mourning My Mother Through the Bags She Left Behind," 23 May 2018
But over the past two decades, its cachet skyrocketed and cheaper garments flooded the market.

— kim bhasin, Bloomberg.com, "Why a Cashmere Sweater Can Cost $2,000 … or $30," 19 Apr. 2018
Your cachet is not always your appearance but rather your conversation in this joint.

— garrett mitchell, azcentral, "11 top gay bars in Phoenix, Scottsdale," 18 June 2018
Whether the cachet of heritage will be enough to sustain the Old Skool’s time in the limelight is an open question.

— john vorwald, GQ, "How Vans Got Everyone Wearing Vans Again," 4 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cachet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

How do you pronounce cachet?

Two words in English that share a common French root also have important differences in pronunciation and meaning.

Cache means “a place where things are hidden,” a meaning that entered English in the 1700s. It can also mean cache memory, or “a part of a computer’s memory where information is kept so that the computer can find it very quickly.” This word is pronounced \CASH\.

Cachet has several meanings. It can mean “prestige,” “medicine prepared so that it can be swallowed,” or “an official seal,” the oldest meaning of the word in English, first used in the 1600s. It is pronounced \cash-AY\.

Both words derive from the French verb cacher (“to hide”), which is pronounced \cash-AY\. In French, cache is pronounced \CASH\—just as in English. The adjective “hidden” in French is spelled with an accent mark on the e—caché—and is pronounced \cash-AY\. The e without accent mark is silent.

Origin and Etymology of cachet

French, from cacher

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1639

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Heraldry Terms

blazon, couchant, dormant, escutcheon, potent, standard, totem

Medical Dictionary

cachet

noun ca·chet \ ka-ˈshā \

: a medicinal preparation for swallowing consisting of a case usually of rice-flour paste containing an unpleasant-tasting medicine — called also wafer, wafer capsule