troupe
Americannoun
-
troupes
plural
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See troop.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of troupe
1815–25, < French: troop
Explanation
You can call a group of performers a troupe. The kids you dance with are your dance troupe, and the jugglers and clowns at your friend's party might be a circus troupe. If you love performing improvisational comedy, you may want to join a local improv troupe, and if you like the idea of caroling at Christmas time, you can form a troupe of singers to sing carols with in December. Troupe is a French word meaning "company of performers," which earlier meant "company of soldiers." It shares a root with troop.
Vocabulary lists containing troupe
Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Theater - Introductory
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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:
Oddie was born in Rochdale, near Manchester, and grew up in Birmingham before attending Cambridge University, where he was a member of the illustrious Footlights comedy troupe.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Chip falls in with a troupe of street performers, evades the police, juggles along the Seine and eventually wanders into a smoky bar, where Penelope is strumming her guitar.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
An hour before the climb, I arrive at the Zimmerman Bandstand, where a troupe wearing Navy whites plays jaunty tunes.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
On June 27, the Chicano troupe Culture Clash will return to the Grand Performances stage with comedic sketches colored by political and social satire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
And everyone in the troupe learned the dangers of cosmetics at an early age.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Now a smorgasbord of other groups from book clubs to dance troupes to golf gatherings are landing similar deals, turning the humble hobby into a new frontier for advertising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Until Friday, Amdjarass hosts dance troupes, musicians, traditional storytellers, craftspeople, cooks and nomadic camel drivers from across the vast region.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
The show will feature a new body of work depicting dance troupes, studios and teachers local to Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2024
Tudyk’s comedy talent developed through extensive study beyond his time in improv troupes, at Julliard or as a Broadway performer.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2024
And then he told me that unfortunately he doesn't know any dance squads, dance groups, dance teams, dance troupes, or dance clubs.
From "Sunny" by Jason Reynolds
So she did what came naturally to her: She trouped.
From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2016
We trouped down the stairs into a long, narrow, cavelike space burrowing into the hill, taken up almost entirely by a gleaming wood bar.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 8, 2015
Outfitted in caps and gowns, the singer Nellie McKay and her musicians trouped onto the stage of Feinstein’s at Loews Regency on Tuesday evening with mischievous smirks on their faces.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2012
Under the guidance of her mother, the ultimate stage mom, she trouped her way out of the provinces to New York City.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mrs. Wellington and her husband came down at ten o'clock and took a position near the ballroom door, just as a group of early arrivals trouped up the stairs.
From Prince or Chauffeur? A Story of Newport by J. V. McFall
Not long now: The teams are out on the pitch, Sheffield United trouping out first, closely followed by Liverpool.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 24, 2020
That appeal has sent “Hamilton” trouping across the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2017
Back from trouping the Pacific was 50-year-old Comedian Joe E. Brown, grey-haired and 15 lb. lighter, home for a rest.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lightly amusing narrative of trouping with marionettes, by one of the founders of the group which later be came known as the Yale Puppeteers.
From Time Magazine Archive
He had written a musical comedy once, lived through the production of it, and had spent a hard-earned two-weeks vacation trouping with it on the road, so he could speak with authority.
From The Real Adventure by Raymond Moreau Crosby
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
