hallmark
Americannoun
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an official mark or stamp indicating a standard of purity, used in marking gold and silver articles assayed by the Goldsmiths' Company of London; plate mark.
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any mark or special indication of genuineness, good quality, etc.
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any distinguishing feature or characteristic.
Accuracy is a hallmark of good scholarship.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an official series of marks, instituted by statute in 1300, and subsequently modified, stamped by the Guild of Goldsmiths at one of its assay offices on gold, silver, or platinum (since 1975) articles to guarantee purity, date of manufacture, etc
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a mark or sign of authenticity or excellence
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an outstanding or distinguishing feature
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hallmarksimple
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hallmarkssimple
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have hallmarkedperfect
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has hallmarkedperfect
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am hallmarkingprogressive
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are hallmarkingprogressive
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is hallmarkingprogressive
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have been hallmarkingperfect progressive
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has been hallmarkingperfect progressive
Past
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hallmarkedsimple
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had hallmarkedperfect
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was hallmarkingprogressive
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were hallmarkingprogressive
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had been hallmarkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hallmark
1715–25; Goldsmiths' Hall, London, the seat of the Goldsmiths' Company + mark 1
Explanation
A hallmark is a distinctive characteristic of something or someone. That can mean a literal symbol on the bottom of a piece of pottery, or just a rock star's signature hair style. Though some products have real hallmarks on them, indicating their creator or origin, this word is usually used in a less literal way to describe a unique attribute, a special style, or typical feature. A basketball player could say that coming to practice early is a hallmark of her success. A business could say their success is a hallmark of their commitment to customers. And you could definitely say Elvis' hip swivel was a hallmark of his performances.
Vocabulary lists containing hallmark
President Obama's Farewell Address
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President Obama's Commencement Address (2016)
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Should girls be allowed to join the boy scouts? 10 Vocab Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But persistence has been a hallmark of Wrobleski’s career, dating to his college years, when he infamously bounced back from a car hitting him on a scooter, and a baseball breaking his jaw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Misfolded α-synuclein is "the pathologic hallmark of Parkinson's disease," he says.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The New York Historical showcases the evolution of our nation’s hallmark idea of self-government in a thoughtful, if sometimes pessimistic, exhibition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
On July 4, Leo is scheduled to visit another port of call for migrants entering Europe, the Italian island of Lampedusa, solidifying the plight of migrants as a hallmark of his papacy.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Archie’s voice was gentle with assurance, the old gentleness they all recognized as Archie’s hallmark when he was sailing high, wide and handsome.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
After all, it has plenty of the hallmarks of a classic Nolan film: It’s an epic about a tormented hero pining after a wife and grappling with memory loss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Does American exceptionalism—whose hallmarks are a still-proud belief in egalitarianism and entrepreneurship—extend to matters outside our domestic affairs?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the buildup of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
He said that omission had "the hallmarks of a witness trying to portray a certain picture".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Key hallmarks of this transition included the development of agriculture, metallurgy, complex technology, centralized government, and writing.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Her technique stems from the art of Mexican son jarocho, a folkloric style of music native to Veracruz, hallmarked by the concurrent strumming of such string instruments as harps and guitars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
Opening on Wednesday and set to continue until next May is a trial hallmarked to go down in history.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2021
Durable, warm, and waterproof, the thick woolen material became a farmer favorite, hallmarked by small, often-subtle crisscross patterns known as “shepherd’s check” or “houndstooth,” the latter named for its jagged, incisor-like appearance.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 14, 2021
The case is engraved with a verse from John Donne’s poem “The Canonization” and signed "Bosie," hallmarked Birmingham 1897.
From Fox News ● Nov. 9, 2018
The very instrument, it might be said, which stamped Cranley as Johnson, slew Johnson himself, and the process which hallmarked the prisoner as the heir of vast wealth stigmatized him with the brand of Cain.
From The Mark Of Cain by Lang, Andrew
Now, using a 3D-printed mould based on an AI blueprint, and streamlining the process in other ways, "I can make this piece in one week" with a few more needed for hallmarking, he said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
According to Alastair Dickenson, a British silver dealer who has appeared as an expert on the BBC program “Antiques Roadshow” for more than 30 years, English hallmarking has been around for almost 700 years.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
It received a royal charter in 1327 to control the standard of silver and precious metals being sold through the hallmarking system.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2014
Dr. Lucie has defaced Scagel’s hallmarking dies with deep scrapes, so they cannot be used to create fakes.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2012
He used Fabergé hallmarking tools to reattribute early 1900s pieces made by other Russian goldsmiths or their French archrival Cartier.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2011
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
