Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

Louis XIV

American  

noun

  1. the Greatthe Sun King, 1638–1715, king of France 1643–1715 (son of Louis XIII).


Louis XIV British  

noun

  1. known as le roi soleil (the Sun King). 1638–1715, king of France (1643–1715); son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. Effective ruler from 1661, he established an absolute monarchy. His attempt to establish French supremacy in Europe, waging almost continual wars from 1667 to 1714, ultimately failed. But his reign is regarded as a golden age of French literature and art

"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

Louis XIV Cultural  
  1. A king of France in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Louis was known as the Sun King for his power and splendor. By inviting French nobles to live in luxury at his palace at Versailles, he removed them as threats and greatly increased his own power. He is known for saying, “L'état, c'est moi” (“I am the state”).


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.

See Examples For:

The second trickier and clumsier aside happens when Banderas’ chef tells Tony the tragedy of 17th century French cook François Vatel, who literally fell on his sword before serving a banquet to Louis XIV.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 6, 2026

For just a moment, he was in his happy place, contemplating his ballroom and thinking about how he might compare to Louis XIV, the monarch he might most admire if he knew anything about him.

From Salon Jun. 18, 2026

The Louvre, the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s, now receives around nine million visitors a year.

From Barron's May 18, 2026

Louis XIV realized that the production and export of luxury goods could be big business, and Paris has been a point of pilgrimage for fashion lovers ever since.

From The Wall Street Journal May 10, 2026

Under Louis XIV tables, around potted palms, up stairways, around corners, down stairways, into the main lobby, picking up other people as we went.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training