variants
or coup d'etat
as in coup
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Recent Examples of coup d'état
The Minister of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, participates in the plenary session of the Supreme Court (STF) in Brazil on Feb. 20, 2025, after the Attorney General's Office (PGR) indicts the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, for plotting a coup d'etat in 2023.
—
Dan Mangan, CNBC, 30 July 2025
General Muhammadu Buhari, dictator of Nigeria, following a successful coup d'etat against Shehu Shagari.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025
Viktor learns of a coup d'etat in his country while at New York's JFK Airport, and, after the U.S. refuses to recognize his passport, he is forced to stay at the airport's terminal.
—Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
Spain The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, saw an explosion of popularity in the 1980s after helping to foil a coup d'etat attempt.
—Justin Klawans, theweek, 27 Feb. 2024
The ceremony came after Nguema seized power in a coup d'etat last week, in the latest usurping of control in African countries.
—Justin Klawans, The Week, 4 Sep. 2023
Also in attendance at that event was the junta leader who seized power in Guinea a little over a year after Mali's coup d'etat.
—Krista Larson, ajc, 24 Sep. 2022
Dan Mangan, CNBC, 30 July 2025
General Muhammadu Buhari, dictator of Nigeria, following a successful coup d'etat against Shehu Shagari.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025
Viktor learns of a coup d'etat in his country while at New York's JFK Airport, and, after the U.S. refuses to recognize his passport, he is forced to stay at the airport's terminal.
—Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 20 Mar. 2025
Spain The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, saw an explosion of popularity in the 1980s after helping to foil a coup d'etat attempt.
—Justin Klawans, theweek, 27 Feb. 2024
The ceremony came after Nguema seized power in a coup d'etat last week, in the latest usurping of control in African countries.
—Justin Klawans, The Week, 4 Sep. 2023
Also in attendance at that event was the junta leader who seized power in Guinea a little over a year after Mali's coup d'etat.
—Krista Larson, ajc, 24 Sep. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coup d'état
Noun
-
In 1992, Alberto Fujimori successfully carried out a self-coup, dissolving Congress and consolidating executive power.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
16 June 2026
-
Bozizé seized power in a 2003 coup and ruled until 2013, when he was overthrown by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 June 2026
Noun
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Haitian soldiers seasoned on American battlefields during the revolution later sparked Haiti’s overthrow of French colonial rule, depriving France of its most profitable slave colony and ending one of the most brutal enslavement of human beings in modern world history.—
Paul Vallas,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
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Then in 1973, Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his secretary of state, plotted the overthrow of yet another democracy in Chile, propping up the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet.—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
Proposition 13 galvanized a nationwide tax revolt and enshrined the modern system of property taxes.—
Nathaniel Meyersohn,
CNN Money,
18 June 2026
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The day shift also starts making factory-work jokes, with Rekha playing a perky do-bee who just wants to make the boss happy, and Lily adopting an agitator role, demanding workman’s comp and trying to spark revolt.—
Tasha Robinson,
Vulture,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led the insurrection after weeks of widespread national protests.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
17 June 2026
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Penn, known for his strong political convictions, previously attended a public hearing of the House select committee investigating the deadly 2021 insurrection.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
16 June 2026
Noun
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Then, as things started to change politically in England, there was the beginning of that feeling of an uprising by the serfs against the aristocracy and the landowners, and this cultural hero rocking the boat and stealing from the rich to give to the poor started to be birthed.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
17 June 2026
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There was also a growing belief among prison officials, around the time of the Attica prison uprising, that being more responsive to prisoners' concerns would reduce the likelihood of violence or rioting.—
Christie Thompson,
NPR,
17 June 2026
Noun
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The violence follows a mass abduction in the same region, part of a wider insurgency and kidnapping crisis that has killed thousands.—
Dyepkazah Shibayan,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2026
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Peasant growers’ resistance to these operations fueled the Shining Path insurgency by providing recruits and creating an opening for the guerrillas to interpose themselves between the farmers and the police.—
Michelle D. Paranzino,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coup d'état.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coup%20d%27%C3%A9tat. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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