lese majesty
[lez, leez]
noun
Law.
- a crime, especially high treason, committed against the sovereign power.
- an offense that violates the dignity of a ruler.
an attack on any custom, institution, belief, etc., held sacred or revered by numbers of people: Her speech against Mother's Day was criticized as lese majesty.
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RELATED WORDS
boldness, coarseness, contempt, discourtesy, dishonor, flippancy, hardihood, impertinence, impiety, impudence, incivility, insolence, irreverence, sacrilege, impoliteness
Also lèse majesty, lèse maj·es·té [lez mah-juh-stey; lez maj-uh-stee, leez] /ˈlɛz ˌmɑ dʒəˈsteɪ; ˈlɛz ˈmædʒ ə sti, ˈliz/.
Origin of lese majesty
1530–40; < French lèse-majesté, after Latin (crīmen) laesae mājestātis (the crime) of injured majesty
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019