coup d'état

variants or coup d'etat

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of coup d'état 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 Bazoum was deposed from power three weeks ago during a coup d'etat that installed a military junta in Niger, and has been imprisoned in the basement of the presidential palace ever since. Justin Klawans, The Week, 12 Aug. 2023 Fighting began after the RSF attempted to seize control of the Sudanese government in an ongoing coup d'etat. Justin Klawans, The Week, 18 Apr. 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 In August 1991, hard-liners in the government launched an abortive coup d'etat. William Welch and Jorge Ortiz, USA TODAY, 30 Aug. 2022 The 84-year-old former leader was overthrown in a coup d'etat in September by a military junta that now leads the West African country. Washington Post, 5 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coup d'état
Noun
  • Once Tatum is able to free President James Sawyer, played by a dashing Jamie Foxx, the two team up in an effort to stop the coup and prevent the White House from becoming a total pile of rubble.
    Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 3 July 2025
  • Reviewing the coups of the interwar years, Malaparte awarded top marks to Trotsky and Mussolini.
    Thomas Meaney, New Yorker, 2 July 2025
Noun
  • The revolt by a large number of Labour MPs against benefit cuts imposed by Keir Starmer is an example.
    Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
  • Rumors of connections between Saint Domingue and slave resistance abounded in Virginia after 1793 and shaped how whites understood Gabriel’s revolt in Richmond in 1800.
    Time, Time, 9 June 2025
Noun
  • All of these acts of insurrection reveal a nation unbowed in the face of violent oppression.
    Nuri Kino, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025
  • Mass deportations, the politicization of our military and the use of the military as props to create the suggestion of insurrection are classic authoritarian techniques to take over governments.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 18 June 2025
Noun
  • In the decades after the Tibetan uprising in 1959, tens of thousands of Tibetans braved frostbite and Himalayan avalanches to live in the proximity of the 14th Dalai Lama.
    Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 2 July 2025
  • The Gulf Arabs financed the counter-revolution against the popular Arab uprisings and worked to counter the influence of a stronger Iran.
    Dina Esfandiary, Time, 1 July 2025
Noun
  • The extremist Sunni Muslim group has its origins in Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which launched a violent insurgency against both U.S. troops and rival Shiite Muslim militias following the U.S.-led invasion of the country that toppled President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
    Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
  • Tumult and violence plagued Peru at the time, spurred by the brutal Shining Path insurgency and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.
    Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Coup d'état.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coup%20d%27%C3%A9tat. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!