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
Noun Inflected 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.
In the final coup de théâtre, a black-and-white environment slowly transforms into a brilliantly green, leafy tree as Ana’s choked syllables become the “I” that her father forbade her to use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
“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
You could almost forgive that at “O welche Lust,” the famous prisoners’ chorus, still the emotional high point of the production and now a coup de théâtre.
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2022
M. Bourget, with the instinct of his nation, had arranged a little coup de théâtre.
From Bog-Myrtle and Peat Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895 by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
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.
