putsch

American  

[pooch] / pʊtʃ /

noun

1. a plotted revolt or attempt to overthrow a government, especially one that depends upon suddenness and speed.

---

putsch British  

/ pʊtʃ /

noun

1. a violent and sudden uprising; political revolt, esp a coup d'état

---

Etymology

Origin of putsch

1915–20; < German Putsch, originally Swiss German: literally, violent blow, clash, shock; introduced in sense “coup” in standard German through Swiss popular uprisings of the 1830s, especially the Zurich revolt of Sept. 1839

Explanation

When a group rises up and overthrows a government, it is sometimes called a putsch, or — more commonly — a coup. This word shares a pronunciation with an informal term for dog, pooch, but there the similarity ends. A putsch is a quick and dirty overthrow of a government; it tends to be used most often for places that experience a lot of these. Putsch comes from the Swiss German word of the same spelling, which means "revolt," or "a sudden blow or push." Another word for a putsch is a coup d'état.

Example Sentences

The failed putsch came six years after the death of General Francisco Franco and was orchestrated by military officers nostalgic for the privileges they enjoyed during more than four decades of his dictatorship.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

The overwhelming favourite in the race on Saturday is the man who led that peaceful putsch and has dominated the political scene ever since, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2025

Though they largely put down the putsch, many then turned their wrath on Alawites, a largely impoverished minority that constitutes some 10% of the country’s population and which dominated Assad-era security services and state bureaucracy.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2025

Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, initially offered little detail about the purported putsch in the capital, Kinshasa, other than to say that the plotters and their leader had been “put out of action.”

From New York Times • May 19, 2024

Not like the pianists of today who prance up and down the key-board with passages in which they have exercised themselves,—putsch, putsch, putsch;—what does that mean?

From Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words by Krehbiel, Henry Edward