plaudit

For earlier plaudite, borrowed from Latin plaudite, second-person plural imperative of plaudere (“to applaud”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɔːdɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːdɪt

plaudit (plural plaudits) (often in the plural)

2. A mark or expression of applause; praise bestowed.

   Synonyms: acclaim, approbation, encomium; see also Thesaurus:applause

   The plaudits reverberated thunderously in the auditorium.

   • 1862, Washington Irving, Works of Washington Irving, page 490:

     The roof now rung with bravos, handkerchiefs were waved on every side, “three cheers,” again and again, and plaudit upon plaudit following in such quick succession, begun, ended, and begun again, that it was some time before the toast with which Mr. Irving concluded, could be heard.

   • 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Under Arrest”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 257:

     They were very orderly- there were neither scoffs nor plaudits, and when they saw us at the window above them there were many who buried their faces in their arms and wept.

   • 2011 November 5, Phil Dawkes, “QPR 2 - 3 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     City have lapped up the plaudits this season for a series of handsome wins but manager Roberto Mancini has demanded that his side also learn to grind out results when they do not play well. He now has an example to point to.

   • 2020 May 20, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 59:

     NR has earned plaudits from far and wide for completing the project in difficult circumstances and for maintaining some access to Drax throughout.

4. (now often specifically) An award or commendation; a formal recognition of approval or achievement.

   Synonyms: accolade, award, encomium, honour, prize

   Sofie has been showered in plaudits for her paradigm-shifting discoveries.

   • 2006 January 25, Rosalind Renshaw, “Kevin Costner and us”, in The Times‎^[2], Times Media Limited, archived from the original on 19 July 2025:

     Today, beyond its magnificent courtyard entrance, there is a spa and a plaudit-winning restaurant, Pearl, but Carla remembers: “There were hiccups and we were late opening, but we finally got there on December 16. […]

   • 2011 November 21, Matthew Haggart, “Sustainability message”, in Otago Daily Times‎^[3], Allied Press Limited, archived from the original on 12 March 2018:

     A former Wanaka-based builder has been awarded a plaudit for his education efforts to combine sustainable building designs alongside the carpentry courses he now teaches at the Waikato Institute of Technology.

plaudit (third-person singular simple present plaudits, present participle plauditing, simple past and past participle plaudited)

2. (rare, usually transitive) To issue or confer a plaudit upon.

   Synonyms: applaud, award, honour

   Floris grumpily yammered on about how the actors hardly deserved to be plaudited.

   • 1640, George Bucke, “On his Countrey-man, the Author”, in James Yorke, The Union of Honour, London: William Leake, [folio 4, verso]:

     Dunces may take degrees, and we have ſeene / Authors and Poets, come forth at foureteene. / The like lucke haunts the Court, he that has wit / To flaſh a line, and friends to plaudite it.

   • 2005, Greg Pritchard, “3.3 Corporate governance”, in Christopher Stephen Brown, editor, The Sustainable Enterprise: Profiting from Best Practice‎^[4], Kogan Page, →ISBN, page 84:

     Much plaudited by Sir Adrian Cadbury and practised by companies as prestigious as BP, the policy governance model is at once both complex and simple.

• “plaudit”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “plaudit”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “plaudit”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

plaudit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of plaudō