accolade
ac·co·lade/ˈæk.əˌleɪd/noun, verb
accolade is spelled A-C-C-O-L-A-D-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (ac·co·lade). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, accolade means “An expression of approval; praise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of accolade is accolades.
How many letters and syllables are in accolade?
| Letters | 8: A-C-C-O-L-A-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ac·co·lade |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is accolade?
Accolade appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce accolade?
- UK /ˈæk.əˌleɪd/
- UK /ˌæk.əˈlɑd/
- US /ˈæk.əˌleɪd/
Accolade has 3 syllables, split ac·co·lade in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-accolade.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of accolade
- accolades plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- accolading participle, present
- accoladed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does accolade mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An expression of approval; praise.
The scientist received the highest accolade in her field for the groundbreaking discovery.
- 2
A special acknowledgment; an award.
This film is likely to pick up major accolades.
- 3
An embrace of greeting or salutation.
- 4
A salutation marking the conferring of knighthood, consisting of an embrace or a kiss, and a slight blow on the shoulders with the flat of a sword.
- 5
A brace used to join two or more staves.
- 6
USA written presidential certificate recognizing service by military personnel or civilians serving the US armed forces who died or were wounded in action between 1917 and 1918, or who died in service between 1941 and 1947, or died of wounds received in Korea between June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.
- 7
An ornament composed of two ogee curves meeting in the middle, each concave toward its outer extremity and convex toward the point at which it meets the other.
- 8
Synonym of curly bracket.
verb
- 1
To embrace or kiss in salutation.
- 2
To confer a knighthood on.
- 3
To confer praise or awards on.
an accoladed novel
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Accolade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Anerkennung, Lob , Auszeichnung , Ritterschlag, Akkolade, Schwertleite |
| Portuguese | elogio, louvor , galardão, reconhecimento , acolada |
| Spanish | elogio, espaldarazo, loor , galardón , acolada |
| French | accolade |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does accolade come from?
First use appears c. 1591 in the publications of Thomas Lodge, borrowed from French accolade, from Occitan acolada (“an embrace”), from acolar (“to embrace”), from Italian accollato, via Vulgar Latin *accollō (“to hug around the neck”), from Latin ad- + collum (“neck”) (English collar) + -āta.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).