cachet

noun

ca·chet | \ ka-ˈshā

Definition of cachet

1a : 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.

2a : 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

4a : 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 sense 3)

How do you pronounce cachet? More Example Sentences Learn More about cachet

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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.

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 on the Web

And for many, that’s the cachet: rubbing elbows with other equally wealthy people who may have shared interests or present a business opportunity. — Paul Sullivan, New York Times, "From Super Bowl to David Bowie, V.I.P. Treatment Awaits," 11 May 2018 China and Japan still both own more than $1 trillion of U.S. debt, according to the U.S. data, and there are few signs that Treasurys are losing their cachet as the world’s most widely traded, extensively held safe securities. — Daniel Kruger, WSJ, "Foreign Buying of U.S. Treasurys Softens, Unsettling Financial Markets," 23 Oct. 2018 But the struggle is real: Even though the latest MacBook Pro 15 suffered some performance issues before Apple found a fix, the brand still carries some cachet with corporate users. — Melissa Riofrio, PCWorld, "Why did Lenovo stretch the ThinkPad X1 Extreme to 15 inches? To kill the MacBook Pro," 30 Aug. 2018 Companies like Acorns, Square, SoFi and Venmo are enlisting world-famous designers to give their cards cachet — and millennials are joining waiting lists to get their hands on them. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Elon Musk’s ‘production hell’ crunch is starting to work," 2 July 2018 Having established the brand’s cachet with high-end offerings — the Model S luxury sedan and the Model X sport-utility vehicle — Tesla would begin churning out more affordable Model 3 sedans. — Neal E. Boudette, New York Times, "Can Elon Musk and Tesla Reinvent the Way Cars Are Made?," 30 June 2018 In Walker & Company Brands, Procter & Gamble acquires the cachet of an emerging player in healthy and beauty focused on serving the country’s growing multicultural customer base. — Jason Del Rey, Recode, "Procter & Gamble has acquired the startup aiming to build the Procter & Gamble for people of color," 12 Dec. 2018 There might not be any teams with Auburn’s cachet left on the schedule, but there are still plenty of challenges and potential defeats — particularly with Adams out. — Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times, "Despite taking a stinging one-two punch, Huskies’ hopes haven’t hit the canvas," 3 Sep. 2018 The system is thought to increase the mystery and cachet of the clothes. — Washington Post, "Standing ovation at Valentino caps Paris couture week," 4 July 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.