coup de théâtre
Americannoun
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a surprising or unexpected turn of events in a play.
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a sensational and unexpected turn in the plot of a drama.
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any theatrical trick intended to have a sensational effect.
noun
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a dramatic turn of events, esp in a play
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a sensational device of stagecraft
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a stage success
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of coup de théâtre
literally: stroke of the theatre
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That celebrated coup de théâtre has been evoked but not staged with any possibility of mortal threat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
“Into the Woods” occasioned Peters’ best work, including a duet with Salonga of “Children Will Listen” and a coup de théâtre involving Little Red Riding Hood’s costume.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2025
He out-Brecht-ed Brecht with Peter Weiss’s “Marat/Sade” for the RSC in the 1960s, a shattering coup de théâtre with Glenda Jackson as an asylum inmate and Patrick Magee as the Marquis de Sade.
From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2022
In one oddly magical coup de théâtre, he actually builds this business, then trains his camera on New Yorkers cracking up and marveling at this bizarre new addition to the neighborhood.
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2021
But at this juncture supervened the coup de théâtre, as M. Ollivier styles it, which opens the second act of the drama.
From Studies in Literature and History by Miller, John O.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
