Word.ws English Dictionary

démarche

UK/deɪˈmɑːʃ//deɪˈmɑɹʃ/

démarche noun: a diplomatic maneuver; one handled with finesse.

Noun

démarche (plural démarches)

  1. A diplomatic maneuver; one handled with finesse.
  2. A diplomatic note without a personal attribution conveying an official protest or request for support, less formal than a bout de papier or a note verbale but of similar status to an aide-mémoire.
    • A less formal way of making diplomatic representations or protests is called a démarche. The following from the US Department of State handbook sets out the typical procedures and purposes of a démarche.2009, Ivor Roberts, Satow's Diplomatic Practice, 6th edition, page 54
    • He did not question the Communist Party's conformity to Moscow, but he thought that the impact of a démarche would be limited since the Portuguese Communists could not afford to tone down their policies lest they be outflanked from the left.2012, Sotiris Rizas, The Rise of the Left in Southern Europe: Anglo-American Responses, unnumbered page

Forms of démarche

pluraldémarches
alternative formdemarche

Origin of démarche

Unadapted borrowing from French démarche, from Middle French, from 12th century demarcher (“to march”), from Old French demarchier, from de- + marchier. Attested 1658, in sense “walk, step”; meaning “a diplomatic move” attested from 1670s.

Words that rhyme with démarche

Questions about démarche

What does démarche mean?
Démarche means a diplomatic maneuver; one handled with finesse.
What part of speech is démarche?
Démarche is a noun.
How do you pronounce démarche?
Démarche is pronounced /deɪˈmɑːʃ/ (UK).
What is the plural of démarche?
The plural of démarche is démarches.

Words near démarche in the dictionary

  1. déjà vues
  2. déjà vuing
  3. déjà vus
  4. Délı̨nę
  5. Délı̨nę Got'ı̨nę Government
  6. démarche
  7. démarches
  8. démodé
  9. démêlé
  10. démêlés
  11. dénouement

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: démarche (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-démarche.wav.

Cite this entry: “démarche.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/d%C3%A9marche. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.