lese majesty

[lez, leez]

noun

Law.
1. a crime, especially high treason, committed against the sovereign power.
2. 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.

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. 2018

Related Words for lese-majesty

boldness, coarseness, contempt, discourtesy, dishonor, flippancy, hardihood, impertinence, impiety, impudence, incivility, insolence, irreverence, sacrilege, impoliteness

Examples from the Web for lese-majesty

Historical Examples of lese-majesty

They have conquered you already, as they boast, for the crime of lese-majesty has placed you at their mercy.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume III.(of III) 1574-84
John Lothrop Motley
Got to have a finger in some political pie, and political pies in Russia before the war were lese-majesty.
The Drums Of Jeopardy
Harold MacGrath
How could they, when they saw in the temper of the people too plain proofs that their lese-majesty had borne evil fruit?
The Expositor's Bible:The Book of Numbers
Robert A. Watson

British Dictionary definitions for lese-majesty

lese-majesty

noun

any of various offences committed against the sovereign power in a state; treason
an attack on authority or position

Word Origin for lese-majesty

C16: from French lèse majesté, from Latin laesa mājestās wounded majesty

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

Word Origin and History for lese-majesty

"offense against sovereign authority, treason," 1530s (mid-15c. as an Anglo-French word), from French lèse-majesté, from Latin laesa majestos "violated majesty," from laesus, past participle of laedere "to hurt, injure, damage, offend, insult," of unknown origin.