hallmark
Americannoun
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hallmarks
plural
-
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)
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hallmarks,
present (3rd person singular)
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hallmarked,
past participle, past
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hallmarking
present participle
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
-
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:
The speed at which a De Zerbi side could, and still can, turn slow meticulous possession in their own half into one-against-one situations for the attackers is a hallmark of his approach.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
He was a hallmark of 1980s public safety PSAs, and he left an indelible impression on America’s youth.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Still, steady consumer spending has been a hallmark of the six-year-old economic expansion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Divergence can be the hallmark of a rally when a new industry has taken the market baton, but also a preview of broader market trouble.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
It is the most extreme example in his catalogue of another striking hallmark of his style.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Maresca will have wanted the win, no matter how it came, and City achieved it, even though it did carry a lot of the hallmarks of a work in progress.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Wherever someone’s looking for training or certification, White said there are three hallmarks of a quality program.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
“It turns out, laughably, that an interest in privacy, and staying quiet about internal feelings, are hallmarks of this condition,” she writes, offering a partial explanation for her wariness of company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Their study found that KCL-286, an experimental drug originally developed for spinal cord injury that has already passed Phase 1 safety trials, reduced multiple hallmarks of Alzheimer's in a mouse model.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
These hallmarks of war in Yayoi Japan corroborate the earliest accounts of Japan in Chinese chronicles, which describe the land of Wa and its hundred little political units fighting with one another.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
NSW Police said their thoughts and condolences "remain with those who were lucky enough to know, love, and be loved by Mrs Nowland during a life she led hallmarked by family, kindness and community."
From BBC ● May 24, 2023
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
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 oldest hallmarked Apostle spoon is dated 1493, while the most modern of which we have any record bears the date of 1665.
From Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings by Mary H. Northend
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.
