A beret is a round, flat, soft hat. In this Connections board, BERET is one of four FEATURES OF A MIME COSTUME.
Quick answer
A beret is a round, flat hat made from soft material. Merriam-Webster describes it more specifically as a visorless, usually woolen cap with a tight headband and a soft, full, flat top. In this puzzle, BERET belongs with GLOVES, STRIPES and SUSPENDERS in the exact category FEATURES OF A MIME COSTUME.
That costume connection appears in the September 8, 2026 Connections puzzle, which shows how the word functions on the complete board.
Meaning and context
The core meaning is visual and concrete: a beret is a soft hat with a round, flat form. The supplied dictionary snippets agree on those features. Cambridge calls it a round, flat hat made of soft material, while Merriam-Webster adds that it is visorless and has a close headband with a soft, flat top.
Those definitions make sentences such as “She wore a black beret” straightforward. The noun names the hat itself. An adjective can identify its color or material, while a verb such as “wore” explains how the item appears in the sentence. The definition does not require every example to specify all of the hat’s structural details.
The search evidence also gives limited cultural context. Cambridge notes that the word appears in contexts including fashion and the military. Separately, French maker Laulhère describes itself as an authentic French beret maker since 1840 and as a historic reference for the French beret. That is an attributed company claim, not a general origin claim about every beret.
Natural examples
These illustrative examples use the noun in its defined sense:
- “A soft beret completed the outfit.”
- “He adjusted the beret’s close-fitting headband.”
- “The costume included a beret and gloves.”
- “BERET became useful when STRIPES and SUSPENDERS suggested a costume pattern.”
The first three examples show ordinary grammatical use. The fourth shows puzzle reasoning: a word’s dictionary meaning supplies a starting point, but the final answer depends on a four-entry relationship verified by the board.
A common mistake
One mistake is to define a beret so broadly that it becomes interchangeable with any hat. The evidence supports a round, flat, soft form, and the Merriam-Webster snippet specifies a visorless cap. Keeping those details preserves the word’s useful distinction without adding unsupported claims.
On this board, another tempting move is to combine BERET, GLOVES, SUSPENDERS and SKORT as clothing. BERET, GLOVES and SUSPENDERS do share the official mime-costume group, but SKORT does not. STRIPES is the fourth verified member, while SKORT belongs to CANDY BARS PLUS A LETTER.
BERET in Connections
In the September 8, 2026 solved Connections board, BERET is part of the green group. The set consists of BERET, GLOVES, STRIPES and SUSPENDERS, and its official title is FEATURES OF A MIME COSTUME.
The word works as an anchor because it names a specific item. Still, the category is confirmed only when the other three entries preserve the same costume relationship. STRIPES is a feature rather than a separate garment, which is why the official wording “features of” matters.
How the group logic works
Collect BERET with GLOVES and SUSPENDERS, then resist completing the set with SKORT merely because it is clothing. STRIPES supplies the fourth official mime-costume feature. The September 8, 2026 Connections group explanation shows where SKORT belongs instead.
This offers a reusable check: when three entries align, compare every possible fourth word against the exact proposed relationship. A broad resemblance such as “clothing” should not replace a more precise category that fits all four verified entries.