panache

/pəˈnæʃ/

Etymology

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

panache means an ornamental plume on a helmet. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 76 out of 100.

Why this word is great

PANACHE — [Noun] A grand or flamboyant style, manner, or spirit, originally referring to an ornamental plume of feathers on a helmet or hat. From French panache, from Middle French pennache ("plume of feathers"), from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnāculum ("small wing, gable, pinnacle"). Unlike flamboyance, which can be merely showy, or pizzazz, which suggests informal sparkle, panache is flamboyance ennobled by reckless courage—style worn as a heraldic device. It is the defiant white plume marking an officer in the smoke of battle, the insouciant cigarette dangling from a pilot's grin, and the single, defiant orchid in a buttonhole on a grey morning; it is the audacious performance of identity, ensuring that even your disasters are legendary.

noun

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.”
Flamboyance, energetic style or action.“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.”