coup

[ koo ]

/ ku /

Save This Word!

noun, plural coups

[kooz; French koo]. /kuz; French ku/.

a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment.

(among the Plains Indians of North America) a brave or reckless deed performed in battle by a single warrior, as touching or striking an enemy warrior without sustaining injury oneself.

coup d'état.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about coup

count coup, (among Plains Indians of North America)

to perform a coup.
to recount or relate the coups one has performed.

Origin of coup

1640–50; <French: literally, blow, stroke, Old French colp<Late Latin colpus,Latin colaphus<Greek kólaphos

Other definitions for coup (2 of 2)

coup²

[ kohp, koop ]

/ koʊp, kup /

verb (used with or without object) Scot.

overturn; upset.

Origin of coup

1350–1400; Middle English coupe to pay for <Old Norse kaupa to buy, barter; cognate with Old English cēapian,German kaufen.See cheap

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

How to use coup in a sentence

However, there have been plenty of death threats against a wide range of state leaders, including Republicans resisting the coup.
Are we entering a new era of political violence?|Sean Illing|January 7, 2021|Vox
Democracy is still standing and the nation is getting back to work, so let’s press forward, even if it does feel surreal to cover business news after witnessing a live-streamed coup attempt.
With 5 new unicorns in first week of 2021, are we in for a stampede this year?|Alex Wilhelm|January 7, 2021|TechCrunch
The power of precedence, the comforting illusion of a stable history, the fantasy that our institutions were so just and well ordered that nothing could shake them, might well have seemed a bulwark against today’s attempted coup.
The Capitol mob images shouldn’t surprise you. Open insurrection was always where we were headed.|Philip Kennicott|January 6, 2021|Washington Post
The movie’s depiction of the critic’s ecstasy was a cartoon coup — and served as inspiration, in point of fact, for one of “Hamilton’s” most spectacular numbers, “Satisfied.”
Judy and Mickey would have loved the TikTok ‘Ratatouille’ — 2021’s answer to ‘Let’s put on a show!’|Peter Marks|January 2, 2021|Washington Post

He bought up so much top-flight real estate in the neighborhood that fashion insiders joked he could have mounted a coup d’etat.
Pierre Cardin, legendary fashion designer and licensing genius, dies at 98|Bernhard Warner|December 29, 2020|Fortune
Stocks of Trees "couped and eradicated" are by no means uncommon.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry|Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
His coach couped in the Vennel, and his lordship was thrown head foremost into the mud.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV.|Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
Occasionally it will be found couped, but it is then, as a rule, only occupying the position of a subsidiary charge.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry|Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
As usually borne by the Cunninghame family the ends are couped and pointed, but in some cases it is borne throughout.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry|Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
Crest: a cornucopia fesswise, surmounted by a dexter hand couped proper, holding a key in bend sinister or.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry|Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

British Dictionary definitions for coup (1 of 3)

coup¹

/ (kuː) /

noun

a brilliant and successful stroke or action

short for coup d'état

Word Origin for coup

C18: from French: blow, from Latin colaphus blow with the fist, from Greek kolaphos

British Dictionary definitions for coup (2 of 3)

coup²

cowp

Scot

verb

to turn or fall over

noun

a rubbish tip

Word Origin for coup

C15: perhaps identical with obsolete cope to strike; see cope 1

British Dictionary definitions for coup (3 of 3)

coup³

/ (kaʊp) /

verb

Scot to barter; traffic; deal

Word Origin for coup

C14: from Old Norse kaupa to buy

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

Cultural definitions for coup

coup

[ (kooh) ]

In politics, an abbreviation for coup d'état.

coup

Idioms about coup

Origin of coup

Other definitions for coup (2 of 2)

Origin of coup

Words related to coup

How to use coup in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for coup (1 of 3)

Word Origin for coup

British Dictionary definitions for coup (2 of 3)

cowp

Word Origin for coup

British Dictionary definitions for coup (3 of 3)

Word Origin for coup

Cultural definitions for coup