Panache
noun
A charismatic and bold style in bearing, speech, or action
A decorative plume of feathers, usually on a helmet or hat
Usage
Even if you don't wear a large plume of feathers atop your headwear, you still might have panache. Originally, a panache was an ornamental plume on top of a military helmet or a hat, and the word can still be used to refer to such plumes today, though feathery panaches are not nearly as fashionable as they used to be. In their time, however, a panache on the crown of a helmet would have been seen as something which lent a bold, dashing style to military attire, and that sense of dash and verve has become the primary sense of the word today. Someone with panache exudes a sort of flamboyant charm. In fact, panache can be thought of as the quality of flamboyance itself. For example, if you regularly make bold, eye-catching attire look good, a friend might exclaim, "You dress with so much panache I'm jealous!" Here, your friend would be using panache to describe the flamboyant but attractive style of your clothing.
However, panache need not always be primarily involved with appearances. Rather, when applied to a person as a whole it describes their overall style, from their personality or presentation to simply the aura they give off. Thus, if your cousin Hank were always the life of every party because of his witty and engaging banter, you might be grateful for his panache. Or, if your cousin Linda, though a cold and reserved person, always looked great and put everyone in their place with a perfectly classy retort, you might have to begrudgingly admit that she did have a certain panache. In fact, there are many different ways a person might have panache, since there are many different ways a person can display charismatic style or daring charm. But, whatever form panache might take, you'll know it when you see it!
Example: Although no one payed attention to Frank at first because of his unfashionable, plain appearance, he soon became the center of attention thanks to his wit and panache.
Example: Little Jennifer marched in the parade down Main Street, twirling her baton with pride and panache.
Example: The one with the large panache of yellow feathers on his helmet is the captain of this regiment.
Origin
Panache was first used in English in the mid-16th century to refer to a literal plume of feathers, especially one on a helmet or cap. It derives from the Middle French pennache which refers to a tuft of feathers and stems in turn from the Italian penaccio, which likewise refers to a tuft of feathers. Penaccio, like most Italian words, grew from Late Latin, particularly from pinnaculum (also the root of the English pinnacle) which refers to "a small wing" (similar to a tuft of feathers) or to a gable or peak. The first recorded use of the figurative sense of panache in English came at the very end of the 19th century in a translation of Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano is, of course, defined by his eloquent panache and his enormous nose, the latter of which comes to function as a literal symbol of his figurative panache since it rises to the heavens like an ornamental plume on a helmet.
In Literature
From Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac:
And tonight when I, at last, God behold, my salute will sweep his blue threshhold with something spotless. A diamond in the ash which I take in spite of you; and that is my panache.
In this soliloquy, Cyrano de Bergerac uses panache to simultaneously refer to his upturned nose, which salutes the heavens like a plumed crest, and to his characteristic eloquence.
Mnemonic
If you have enough panache,
You could use it to totally abash
Everyone with your flair and dash.
Tags
Style, Personality, Military
Bring out the linguist in you! What is your own interpretation of panache. Did you use panache in a game? Provide an example sentence or a literary quote.