cadre

American  

[ka-dray, kah-dray] / ˈkæ dreɪ, ˈkɑ dreɪ /

noun

• cadres
  plural

1. 

   Military. the key group of officers and enlisted personnel necessary to establish and train a new military unit.

2. a group of trained or otherwise qualified personnel capable of forming, training, or leading an expanded organization, as a religious or political faction, or a skilled workforce.

   They hoped to form a cadre of veteran party members.

3. (especially in Communist countries) a cell of trained and devoted workers.

4. a member of a cadre; a person qualified to serve in a cadre.

5. a framework, outline, or scheme.

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cadre British  

/ ˈkɑːdə /

noun

1. the nucleus of trained professional servicemen forming the basis for the training of new units or other military expansion

2. a basic unit or structure, esp of specialists or experts; nucleus; core

3. a group of revolutionaries or other political activists, esp when taking part in military or terrorist activities

4. a member of a cadre

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cadre Cultural  

1. An elite or select group that forms the core of an organization and is capable of training new members.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cadres
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cadre

First recorded in 1905–10; from French: “frame, border, bounds, cadre” (metaphorically, the cadre being the framework into which temporary personnel are fit), from Italian quadro, from Latin quadrum “square”; see quadri-

Explanation

A cadre is a group of specially trained people prepared to lead or instruct others. Examples could be a military unit, a group of scientists, or a band of insurgents. Just looking at the "re" at the end of cadre suggests the word has some French roots, and so it does. The word, stemming from the Latin quadrum, meaning "a square," also meant "framework." This idea of a frame or border came to suggest the word as meaning a small group that creates the framework for a larger one, much like a picture frame. Your cadre of rebels consists of two cats and a stuffed bear...at least they'll be good at keeping secrets.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cadre cadres

While he wanted to focus purely on directing, the studio insisted that he appear in the film along with the cadre of ballet dancers he had chosen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The latest “Moana,” out this weekend, will join a cadre of family films at the multiplex.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

“Hard targets are at least visible and enforceable. Softer objectives are harder to measure and harder to embed in the cadre evaluation system.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

The book wasn’t written so much as it was built by a prominent ghostwriter, a cadre of well-placed friends and colleagues, and a publishing industry that’s made billions of dollars from trauma memoirs by women.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

After Messner and Habeler proved that Everest could be climbed without gas, a cadre of ambitious mountaineers agreed that it should be climbed without gas.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Frustratingly for career diplomats, Witkoff brushed off the usual cadres of government experts for complex negotiations.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

"We cannot accept low economic growth," he said in a speech to senior Communist Party cadres last month.

From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026

But even he must occasionally reassure the population, and especially the Party cadres, that what he is doing makes some sort of sense.

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026

Inequality is in part a result of rising incomes at the top and especially in the growing cadres of the affluent middle class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026

In the eastern provinces, the Khmer Rouge cadres were more moderate and humane: the work hours were generally shorter, the food rations were larger, and the soldiers did not kill the villagers indiscriminately.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Related Words

• organization
• personnel
• staff