coup de foudre

[ koo duh-foo-druh ]

noun,plural coups de fou·dre

[koo duh-foo-druh]. /ku dəˈfu drə/. French.

a thunderbolt.
love at first sight.

Origin of coup de foudre

First recorded in 1770–80; from French: literally “bolt of lightning”

Words Nearby coup de foudre

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use coup de foudre in a sentence

He had done the same thing a hundred times before; but this, he told himself, was the coup de foudre—the thunderbolt.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. Locke
It was le coup de foudre of a French writer on the affections—M. Stendhal.
In the Wrong Paradise | Andrew Lang
When a thing like this happens—a genuine coup-de-foudre—a man is only a fool who doesn't face it and admit it at once.
The Twelfth Hour | Ada Leverson
But I happen to know its a love match: love at first sight; a regular coup de foudre.
Christmas Roses and Other Stories | Anne Douglas Sedgwick
Was he a man for a coup-de-foudre, the lightning stroke of love?
Chance | Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for coup de foudre

coup de foudre

/ French (ku də fudrə) /

nounplural coups de foudre (ku də fudrə)

a sudden and amazing action or event

Origin of coup de foudre

literally: lightning flash

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

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