Louis XVI

American  

noun

1. 1754–93, king of France 1774–92 (grandson of Louis XV and husband of Marie Antoinette).

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Louis XVI British  

noun

1. 1754–93, king of France (1774–92); grandson of Louis XV. He married Marie Antoinette in 1770 and they were guillotined during the French Revolution

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Louis XVI Cultural  

1. The last king of France before the French Revolution; the husband of Marie Antoinette. He at first accepted a change from absolute monarchy (see ancien régime) to constitutional monarchy in France. Then he tried to flee the country and was brought back a prisoner. Radicals, including the Jacobins, assumed control of the revolution and had Louis and Marie Antoinette beheaded for treason.

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Example Sentences

King Louis XVI deprived his European rival of its colonial jewel but lost his kingdom and his head.

From The Wall Street Journal

Raised in Vienna’s Habsburg court, she was age 14 when she married the future Louis XVI in 1770.

From The Wall Street Journal

Everything essential to David’s reputation is already present in this body of work, done for the monarchy of Louis XVI.

From The Wall Street Journal

Seeking a mandate from the French people for his policies, Louis XVI convened the Estates General.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 1789 France’s finances stood on the brink of crisis, in part from Louis XVI’s decision a decade earlier to join the American Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal