carte blanche
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carte blanche
- /(ˈ)kɑɹt ˈblɑn(t)ʃ/ US
- /(ˈ)kɑːt ˈblɑːnʃ/ UK
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French carte blanche, referring to a blank or white card.
noun cartes blanches
-
Unlimited discretionary power to act; unrestricted authority.
“[…] But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic ?[…]Does your carte blanche run so far as that also ?”
Similar: free hand, free rein, proxy in blank, blank check
-
A blank paper that is signed by some authority and given to a person to fill as they please.
2001, Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Alfred A. Knopf (2001), 15,
Indeed, I later learned that when they had bought the place, in 1930, they had given my father's older sister Lina their checkbook, carte blanche, saying, "Do what you want, get what you want."
Similar: proxy in blank
- A hand with no court cards.
- A chargecard issued by Diners Club International.
adverb
- As an undifferentiated mass, without regard to distinctions; willy-nilly. (Possibly from confusion with another French phrase, en masse.) Can gay and lesbian people in justice be excluded carte blanche from the sacrament of sexual love sharing, let alone from church membership or leadership?
Translations
Every language
noun unlimited discretionary power to act; unrestricted authority
| Español | carta blanca, manos libres |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 白紙委任 hakushi inin, 白紙委任状 hakushi ininjō |
| 中文 | 全權 /全权 quánquán, 全權委託 /全权委托 quánquán wěituō |
| Português | carta branca |
| Français | carte blanche |
| Deutsch | Blankovollmacht, freie Hand, Carte blanche |
| Italiano | carta bianca |
| Русский | карт-бла́нш kart-blánš |
| العربية | تَفْوِيض مُطْلَق tafwīḍ muṭlaq, ضَوْء أَخْضَر ḍawʔ ʔaḵḍar |
Talk about this word "carte blanche." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/carte%20blanche. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. carte blanche. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/carte%20blanche "carte blanche." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/carte%20blanche.Cite this
@misc{carte_blanche_2026,
title = {carte blanche},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/carte%20blanche},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
