Word.ws English Dictionary

detente

detente is the alternative form of détente.

Meaning of détente

Noun

détente (countable and uncountable, plural détentes)

  1. (uncountable) Relaxing of tension, especially between countries; (countable) an instance of this.
    • They had a vague feeling that after the dislocations and the violence which the Impressionists inflicted on the picturesque, the eyes of their contemporaries necessarily needed a little rest. Instinct and reflection were no less ready to warn them that the last hours were at hand of one of those...1897 May 15, André Michel, “The Salons at Paris”, in The Athenæum: Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music and the Drama, number 3629, London: Printed by John Edward...

Forms of detente

pluraldetentes

Questions about detente

What is detente the alternative form of?
Detente is the alternative form of détente.

Words near detente in the dictionary

  1. detension
  2. detensioned
  3. detensioning
  4. detensions
  5. detent
  6. detente
  7. detented
  8. detentes
  9. detenting
  10. detention
  11. detention basin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: detente (page history and authors); détente (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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Cite this entry: “detente.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detente. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.