Sun King

British

noun

the. An epithet of Louis XIV

"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

Sun King Cultural

A nickname for Louis xiv that captures the magnificence of his court and of the Palace of Versailles, which he built. Louis himself adopted the sun as his emblem.

Example Sentences

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Sun King

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump for dinner at Versailles after a G7 summit last month, with the US president calling the palace of the Sun King Louis XIV "the real deal".

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

"He's just like Louis XIV," one retired American diplomat said to me, referring to France's self-aggrandising Sun King.

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2025

Louis XVI — the Sun King — and Queen Marie Antoinette held lavish banquets at Versailles before they were beheaded during the French revolution.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

A Sun Valley native and the district’s council member, Imelda Padilla, underscored the significance of resources such as Sun King Apartments in addressing homelessness, particularly with families in her area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2024

Louis Xiy aged fifteen, as Apollo, the Sun King, in Lully's Le Ballet de la nuit of 1653.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023