coup d'état

[ koo dey-tah; French koo dey-ta ]

noun

, plural coups d'é·tat [koo dey-, tahz, koo dey-, ta].

1. a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force.

   Synonyms: uprising, revolution, rebellion, overthrow

coup d'état

/ ku deta; ˈkuː deɪˈtɑː /

noun

1. a sudden violent or illegal seizure of government

coup d'état

1. A quick and decisive seizure of governmental power by a strong military or political group. In contrast to a revolution, a coup d'état, or coup , does not involve a mass uprising. Rather, in the typical coup, a small group of politicians or generals arrests the incumbent leaders, seizes the national radio and television services, and proclaims itself in power. Coup d'état is French for “stroke of the state” or “blow to the government.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of coup d'état¹

1640–50; < French: literally, stroke concerning the state

Word History and Origins

Origin of coup d'état¹

French, literally: stroke of state

Example Sentences

An army spokesman later announced on national TV that security forces had stopped "an attempted coup d'etat".

From BBC

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the election fraud allegations "spurious" and said Friday's announcement was "an attempt at a coup d'etat, spearheaded by politically motivated prosecutors".

From BBC

"He was targeted by this coup d'etat because he was carrying out courageous reforms and because there was a largely ethnic settling of scores and a lot of political cowardice," he said.

From BBC

In his speech on Tuesday, he said that "calls for a coup d'etat are already being heard", but did not present any evidence of an attempt to remove him.

From Reuters

But we see the broader set of actions by Trump and his allies to subvert the Constitution – the Georgia vote count and fake elector scheme included – as part of a political coup d'etat.

From Salon