coryphée

[ kawr-uh-fey, kor-; French kaw-ree-fey ]
See synonyms for coryphée on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural cor·y·phées [kawr-uh-feyz, kor-; French kaw-ree-fey]. /ˌkɔr əˈfeɪz, ˌkɒr-; French kɔ riˈfeɪ/.
  1. a member of a ballet company who dances usually as part of a small group and who ranks below the soloists.

Origin of coryphée

1
1820–30; <French <Latin coryphaeuscoryphaeus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use coryphée in a sentence

  • The three "coryphees" were busy at work about the place with Olga's maid.

    West Wind Drift | George Barr McCutcheon
  • He had eaten up four blonde wigs, sixteen legs of ballet girls, and left eight coryphees with a leg apiece.

    Letters of Peregrine Pickle | George P. Upton

British Dictionary definitions for coryphée

coryphée

/ (ˌkɒrɪˈfeɪ) /


noun
  1. a leading dancer of a corps de ballet

Origin of coryphée

1
C19: from French, from Latin coryphaeus coryphaeus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012