1
: an act or round of applause
2
: enthusiastic approval
—usually used in plural
received the plaudits of the critics
Did you know?
You earn plaudits for your etymological knowledge if you can connect plaudit to words besides the familiar applaud and applause. A word coined by shortening Latin plaudite, meaning "applaud," plaudit had gained approval status in English by the first years of the 17th century. Latin plaudite is a form of the verb plaudere, meaning "to applaud"; plaudere, in turn, is ancestor to explode, plausible, and the archaic displode (a synonym of explode).
Examples of plaudit in a Sentence
the proud parents bragged that their daughter had received many plaudits for her academic achievements
Recent Examples on the Web
The dramatization of one of the darkest chapters in American crime history has drawn plaudits for sidestepping easy sensationalism about the Chicago contractor and amateur clown who murdered 33 boys in the 1970s, burying them in a crawl space beneath his house.
—
Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
Hall booked a lead role in Showtime’s dark comedy Black Monday (2019–2021) opposite Don Cheadle, and earned more plaudits for Honk for Jesus.
—Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
Legacy swept best telenovela and multiple other plaudits at South Africa’s 2021 SAFTA awards.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
City deserve as many plaudits for the victory as Arsenal deserve criticism for the defeat.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for plaudit
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Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
Hall booked a lead role in Showtime’s dark comedy Black Monday (2019–2021) opposite Don Cheadle, and earned more plaudits for Honk for Jesus.
—Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
Legacy swept best telenovela and multiple other plaudits at South Africa’s 2021 SAFTA awards.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
City deserve as many plaudits for the victory as Arsenal deserve criticism for the defeat.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for plaudit
Cite this Entry
“Plaudit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaudit. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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