courtier

noun

cour·tier | \ ˈkȯr-tē-ər

How to pronounce courtier (audio)

, ˈkȯrt-yər, ˈkȯr-chər \

Definition of courtier

1 : one in attendance at a royal court

2 : one who practices flattery

Examples of courtier in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Four days after Prince Philip’s death, the queen attended a retirement ceremony for a royal courtier who had been instrumental in planning her husband’s funeral. — Max Colchester, WSJ, "Queen Elizabeth, Ruling Without Prince Philip, Shows No Signs of Letting Up," 18 Apr. 2021 As Blanding relates, McCarthy’s approach to this vexing question centers on Elizabethan courtier and famed Plutarch translator Sir Thomas North. — Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, "Shakespeare’s plays meet plagiarism-detection software," 31 Mar. 2021 One of the earliest Lowes to have survived, a short flapper-style dress from 1926, is the costume for a Gasparilla courtier that might have come from les petites mains of Lesage. — Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, "Ann Lowe’s Barrier-Breaking Mid-Century Couture," 22 Mar. 2021 Directors thought that their role was like that of a courtier: dealing with political muckety-mucks and refereeing fights among the staff. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, "Reforms Boost Italian Museums," 12 Sep. 2020 And every campaign official who talks to Trump about the latest polls does so with the trepidation of a courtier discussing Anne Boleyn with Henry VIII. — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, "Trump’s Potemkin Reelection Campaign," 16 June 2020 In the first stage of this process, Trump turned the Republican Party from an organization whose leader was (at least formally) first among equals into a gaggle of fawning courtiers, not so much ancien as nouveau régime. — Hari Kunzru, The New York Review of Books, "Democracy’s Red Line," 4 June 2020 As the British media went into meltdown, the royal matriarch moved quickly to take back control, ordering courtiers to sort out a future role for the couple within days. — Washington Post, "New year, new headache for queen with Harry and Meghan rift," 11 Jan. 2020 He is tricked into joining a delegation to London by a courtier who has eyes for his wife. — Dominic Dromgoole, New York Times, "A Rich, Old-Fashioned Spy Thriller Set in Elizabethan England," 11 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'courtier.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about courtier

Dictionary Entries near courtier

court holy water

courting mirror

Statistics for courtier

Last Updated

22 Apr 2021

Cite this Entry

“Courtier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courtier. Accessed 12 May. 2021.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster Check Mark Icon

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for courtier

courtier

noun

English Language Learners Definition of courtier

: a member of a royal court (sense 3b)

See the full definition for courtier in the English Language Learners Dictionary

courtier

noun

court·i·er | \ ˈkȯr-tē-ər

\

Kids Definition of courtier

: a member of a royal court

WORD OF THE DAY

veracity

Listen to the pronunciation of veracity

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Star Wars Words Quiz

The bounty portion of bounty hunters (such as Boba Fett) comes from a Latin word meaning

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

Anagram puzzles meet word search.

TAKE THE QUIZ