plural cartes blanches ˈkärt(s)-ˈblänch How to pronounce carte blanche (audio) -ˈbläⁿsh How to pronounce carte blanche (audio)
: full discretionary (see discretion sense 1a) power
was given carte blanche to furnish the house

Did you know?

Carte blanche is much like a blank check. In French, carte means "document" and blanche means "blank," so the phrase means "blank document." English retained that literal meaning: a carte blanche was a blank document signed in advance by one party and given to the other with permission to fill in conditions later. Much like blank check, carte blanche also took on the extended meaning "complete freedom."

Examples of carte blanche in a Sentence

We gave the decorator carte blanche to furnish the house.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Showing two high jewelry collections a year, Choisne let her imagination run wild with innovation as the cornerstone of the carte blanche expression shown in July. Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 11 Oct. 2025 For his New York program, Japan Society offered Hasumi carte blanche — a rare honor previously extended to figures such as Susan Sontag and art photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2025 That doesn’t mean that local residents have given carte blanche for the mall to be turned into anything. Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2025 Armed with the new law and guns, white kidnappers had carte blanche to snatch and enslave free Black people, too. Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for carte blanche

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, blank document

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of carte blanche was in 1751

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Carte blanche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carte%20blanche. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on carte blanche

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!