cadre

noun

cad·​re ˈka-ˌdrā  ˈkä- 

-drē;

 especially British  ˈkä-də,

ˈkā-,

-drə

1

: a nucleus or core group especially of trained personnel able to assume control and to train others

broadly : a group of people having some unifying relationship

a cadre of lawyers

a cadre of technicians

2

: a cell of indoctrinated leaders active in promoting the interests of a revolutionary party

3

: a member of a cadre

4

: frame, framework

… the current specialisms and cadres of our university curricula …

—H. M. McLuhan

Did you know?

A wise man named Huey Lewis once sang that “it’s hip to be square.” As lexicographers—a hip cadre if ever there was one—we heartily agree with this sentiment, not least because the song (as performed by Lewis and his trusted cadre of bandmates dubbed “the News”) prompts us to ponder an etymological descendent (via French and Italian) of the Latin word for square, quadrum: cadre. Squares being a logical and standard shape for frames (as of window and picture varieties), it’s easy to understand why French speakers and later English speakers adopted cadre as a word meaning “frame.” A sense of cadre referring to a metaphorical framework for something (such as a novel or curriculum) soon developed. And if you consider a group of officers in a military regiment as the framework that holds things together for the unit, you’ll understand how yet another sense of cadre, referring to a nucleus of trained personnel, arose. Military leaders and their troops are well-trained and work together as a unified team, which may explain why cadre is now sometimes used more generally to refer to any group of people who have some kind of unifying characteristic—such as a belief in the heart of rock and roll, or perhaps the power of love.

Synonyms

• architecture
• armature
• configuration
• edifice
• fabric
• frame
• framework
• framing
• infrastructure
• shell
• skeleton
• structure

Examples of cadre in a Sentence

claims that the problem will never be solved within the existing cadre of the state bureaucracy

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1972, for example, Palestine Liberation Organization cadre Bassam Abu Sharif -- a former senior advisor to PLO chief Yasser Arafat -- lost four fingers plus the use of one ear and one eye when a book sent to him by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, exploded in his hands in Beirut. —David Brennan, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2024

Harris is not alone in evolving into a climate pragmatist; she is joined by a growing cadre of Republicans and Democrats. —Nives Dolsak and Aseem Prakash, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024

From the cadre of famous ex-boyfriends to Zadie Smith and half the cast of Succession, creative director Jonathan Anderson uses his shows to flex his Rolodex. —Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2024

Modern autocrats do not act alone; their connections with one another are complemented and sustained by a varied cadre of legal specialists, political strategists and academics who tend to be economically secure, well-educated and cosmopolitan. —Cecilia Menjívar, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, from Italian quadro, from Latin quadrum square — more at quarrel

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined at sense 4

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