Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CACHET
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connect this word to others:
In French, cacher means "to conceal," and a lettre de cachet was an official sealed letter from the king of France.
So, you can see how the word cachet in English grew to mean an official seal, a stamp of authority, a mark of prestige, an obvious sign of quality or superiority.
Now that we've traced cachet back to its roots in seals and concealment, we can make sense of its resemblance to the word cache, originally "a hiding place."
See if you can recall another word that once meant "a mark of approval or authority," one that grew to mean "someone's public, official support and approval:" im_____ur. (Hint: it's Latin for "let it be printed.")
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"CACHET"
To have cachet is to have a reputation for being excellent, admired, and respected.
Pronunciation:
cash AY
(Rhymes with "sashay." Hey, more song writers should take advantage of this. "You carry cachet; let's see you sashay." Alright, I'll show myself out.)
Part of speech:
Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "it has cachet," "it still carries cachet," "they lost their cachet."
Sometimes we do treat "cachet" like a singular noun: "the brand has a certain cachet," "there's a cachet in being selective about the roles you accept."
Other forms:
none
How to use it:
"Cachet" is a fine, fancy word for talking about fine fanciness. Enjoy it!
Talk about someone or something having or carrying cachet, or gaining or losing cachet.
What tends to have cachet? Brands, products, schools, department stores, restaurants, dishes, ingredients, articles of clothing, fabrics, breeds of dogs and horses, neighborhoods, cities, landmarks, etc.
And who tends to have cachet? Celebrities, politicians, athletes, authors, fashion designers, etc.
You can tack on an adjective: long-held cachet, dwindling cachet, social cachet, cultural cachet, Ivy League cachet.
You can also talk about "the cachet of something," as in "the cachet of wealth" or "the cachet of craftsmanship."
Or, say that there's a certain cachet in doing something--or a certain cachet in not doing something.
examples:
With his very fine hat and his self-proclaimed roots in the community, the thief Badger is desperate for cachet.
"Small businesses are contending with a shrinking pool of available people, the result of an unemployment rate that’s down to 3.7 percent nationally. And they’re up against the ability of larger companies to offer bigger salaries and benefits and sometimes the cachet of a Fortune 500 firm."
— Joyce M. Rosenberg, The Associated Press, 19 December 2018
has this page helped you understand "cachet"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "cachet" without saying "prestige" or "eminence."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "_____ earned cachet by _____."
Example: "YouTubers still earn cachet by gaining followers, posting regularly, and generating engagement, even as YouTube's overall watches are down."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Quintessential TV Quotes!
Each day, match the given vocabulary word to the quote that best illustrates it.
From the previous issue:
From 3rd Rock from the Sun, which quote below illustrates something catchpenny?
Quote A:
Tourist: Excuse me, we've been driving around for hours. Do you know of any hotels that have rooms?
Harry: I believe that all hotels have rooms.
Quote B:
Vincent Strudwick: So... what'd you think of the book?
Dick: As bathroom fare? A triumph!
Quote C:
Sally: The Official Boy Scouts' Guidebook. Who're the Boy Scouts?
Harry: They're an elite, prepubescent, paramilitary society and I'm going to follow their ways.
Answer: In quote B, Dick pays a backhanded compliment to a catchpenny book.
Try this one today:
From Glee, which quote below illustrates tribalism?
Quote A:
Kurt: All my artistic decisions have been derided as too costly because they involve several varieties of exotic bird feathers.
Quote B:
Quinn: When you start eating for somebody else so that they can grow and be healthy, your relationship to food changes. I realized that if I'm still willing to eat right to take care of this baby, why am I not willing to do it for myself?
Quote C:
Mr. Schue: Guys, violence is never the answer.
Puck: It is when the question is, "What's the best way to mess up that Jesse kid's face?"
Kurt: Mr. Schue, Rachel is one of us. We're the only ones who get to humiliate her.
review today's word:
1. The opposite of CACHET is
A. STAIN.
B. DISPLAY.
C. SECRET WEAPON.
2. Golf Digest gained cachet after _____.
A. ranking the world's best golf courses
B. featuring a scantily clad model on its cover
C. investigating and reversing a wrongful conviction
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From Liesl's blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
In French, cacher means "to conceal," and a lettre de cachet was an official sealed letter from the king of France.
"CACHET" To have cachet is to have a reputation for being excellent, admired, and respected.
With his very fine hat and his self-proclaimed roots in the community, the thief Badger is desperate for cachet.
Explain the meaning of "cachet" without saying "prestige" or "eminence."
Fill in the blanks: "_____ earned cachet by _____."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The opposite of CACHET is
|