accolade

[ak-uh-leyd, -lahd]

noun

1. any award, honor, or laudatory notice.

   The play received accolades from the press.

2. a light touch on the shoulder with the flat side of the sword or formerly by an embrace, done in the ceremony of conferring knighthood.

3. the ceremony itself.

4. Music.,  a brace joining several staves.

5. Architecture.

   1. an archivolt or hood molding having more or less the form of an ogee arch.

   2. a decoration having more or less the form of an ogee arch, cut into a lintel or flat arch.

accolade

/ ˈækəˌleɪd, ˌækəˈleɪd /

noun

1. strong praise or approval; acclaim

2. an award or honour

3. the ceremonial gesture used to confer knighthood, originally an embrace, now a touch on the shoulder with a sword

4. a rare word for brace

5. architect a curved ornamental moulding, esp one having the shape of an ogee arch

Other Word Forms

• accoladed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of accolade¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from French, derivative of accolée “embrace” (with -ade -ade ¹ ), noun use of feminine past participle of Old French accoler, verb derivative of col “neck” ( collar ), with a- a- ⁵

Word History and Origins

Origin of accolade¹

C17: via French and Italian from Vulgar Latin accollāre (unattested) to hug; related to Latin collum neck

Example Sentences

It also won the coastal category and secured a prestigious gold accolade in the awards, run by the Royal Horticultural Society.

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“I think we can all relate. That’s probably one of the highest accolades and achievements you can accomplish as an artist, songwriter, and producer. Those are all things we have on our bucket list.”

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Although Hoover has many accolades, the city has major bragging rights when it comes to a healthy economy.

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Except it doesn’t work that way; if you want the accolades, you need to earn them.

Read more on Salon

The five contenders for the accolade were chosen by a panel of experts, including coaches, players, administrators and journalists.

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Related Words

• distinction 
• kudos 

When To Use

What is an accolade?

An accolade is an award, honor, or instance of positive acknowledgment or praise.The word is typically used in the context of honors and praise that have been given to a person throughout their professional career.It is especially used to refer to prestigious awards and honors that not many people receive.The adjective accoladed can be used to describe a person who has received many accolades, but the term is rarely used.The word accolade is also used in a few technical ways in the context of music and architecture.Example: It would take too long to list her many accolades, which range from professional awards to humanitarian honors to public messages of praise from her peers in the field.