Dictionary

panache en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /pəˈnæʃ/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /pəˈnɑːʃ/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French panache, from Middle French pennache (“plume of feathers”), from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnāculum. Doublet of pinnacle.

Meanings

1. (countable) An ornamental plume on a helmet.
   • I had taken the panache from my shako so that it might escape notice, but even with my fine overcoat I feared that sooner or later my uniform would betray me. 1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 4, in The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard:
2. (figuratively, uncountable) Flamboyance, energetic style or action.
   • It was a tantalizing promise, delivered with Donald Trump’s trademark panache: As dealmaker in chief, he would quickly end world conflicts that had defied his predecessors and their nattily dressed legions of career diplomats. 2025 April 24, Ned Temko, “Trump’s ‘quick fix’ approach to diplomacy slow to yield results”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
   • Cyberpunk caters to the wish-fulfillment requirements of male teen-agers, but this is a job that can be done with varying degrees of panache, and there is currently no more accomplished caterer than William Gibson. 1988 December 11, Thomas M. Disch, “Lost in Cyberspace”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • It takes serious chutzpah for an American to bring a film abour the French New Wave to Cannes but [Richard] Linklater pulls it off with considerable comic panache and affection. 2025 May 24, Raphael Abraham, “In Godard we trust”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16:
   • One old gentleman, who was in the habit of reading a Paris newspaper and knew things, chuckled gleefully to everybody that Alcée’s conduct was altogether chic, mais chic. That he had more panache than Boulanger. Well, perhaps he had. 1894, Kate Chopin, “At the 'Cadian Ball”, in Bayou Folk:

Forms

Deriveds

panached

Synonyms

plume · dash · verve · hackle · flamboyance · swagger · plumage

Translations (42)

nl vederbos (ornamental helmet plume) · pl rozmach (flamboyant style or action) · fr panache (ornamental helmet plume) · gl penacho (ornamental helmet plume) · bg показност (flamboyant style or action) · sh verv (flamboyant style or action) · es garbo (flamboyant style or action) · pt penacho (ornamental helmet plume) · ru фатовство́ (flamboyant style or action) · pl pióropusz (ornamental helmet plume) · ru рисо́вка (flamboyant style or action) · fi sulkakoriste (ornamental helmet plume) · bg плюмаж (ornamental helmet plume) · pt brilho (flamboyant style or action) · de Federbusch (ornamental helmet plume) · ru разма́х (flamboyant style or action) · ru щегольство́ (flamboyant style or action) · sh kićenost (flamboyant style or action) · nl zwier (flamboyant style or action) · sv panasch (ornamental helmet plume) · de Elan (flamboyant style or action) · ru султа́н (ornamental helmet plume) · fi into (flamboyant style or action) · fr panache (flamboyant style or action) · mk перјаница (ornamental helmet plume) · fi lennokkuus (flamboyant style or action) · nl panache (ornamental helmet plume) · es gracia (flamboyant style or action) · ca plomall (ornamental helmet plume) · it pennacchio (ornamental helmet plume) · ru плюма́ж (ornamental helmet plume) · nl panache (flamboyant style or action) · sh perjanica (ornamental helmet plume) · sh kitnjastost (flamboyant style or action) · is fjaðraskúfur (ornamental helmet plume) · de Schwung (flamboyant style or action) · fi vauhdikkuus (flamboyant style or action) · fi sulkatöyhtö (ornamental helmet plume) · pl polot (flamboyant style or action) · eo brilo (flamboyant style or action) · es penacho (ornamental helmet plume) · ro panaș (ornamental helmet plume)