Meanings
nouncoup d'état (plural coups d'état or coup d'états)
plural coups d'état · plural coup d'états · alternative coup d'etat · alternative coup de tat
- governmentThe sudden overthrow of a government, differing from a revolution by being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures.
The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest allies are among dozens of people formally accused by federal police of being part of a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a rightwing coup d’état.
2024 November 21, Tom Phillips, “Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro charged with plotting coup d’état”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe sudden overthrow of a government, differing from a revolution by being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures.
Also see
Origin
- Frenchcoup d'État
- Englishcoup d'état
Unadapted borrowing from French coup d'État (literally “strike (or blow or cut) of state”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans staatsgreep
- staatsgreepsudden overthrow of a government
Arabic اِنْقِلَاب
- اِنْقِلَاب (inqilāb)sudden overthrow of a government
Basque estatu-kolpe
- estatu-kolpesudden overthrow of a government
Bengali কুদেতা, অভ্যুত্থান
- কুদেতা (kudeta)sudden overthrow of a government
- অভ্যুত্থান (obbhutthan)sudden overthrow of a government
Bulgarian превра́т, пуч
- превра́т (prevrát)sudden overthrow of a government
- пуч (puč)sudden overthrow of a government
- държа́вен превра́т (dăržáven prevrát)sudden overthrow of a government
Catalan cop d'estat
- cop d'estatsudden overthrow of a government
Chinese Cantonese 政變 /政变
- 政變 /政变sudden overthrow of a government
Chinese Mandarin 政變 /政变, 苦迭打
- 政變 /政变 (zhèngbiàn)sudden overthrow of a government
- 苦迭打 (kǔdiédǎ)sudden overthrow of a government
- 苦迭塔 (kǔdiétǎ)sudden overthrow of a government
Czech puč, převrat
- pučsudden overthrow of a government
- převratsudden overthrow of a government
- státní převratsudden overthrow of a government
Danish statskup
- statskupsudden overthrow of a government
Dutch staatsgreep, putsch
- staatsgreepsudden overthrow of a government
- putschsudden overthrow of a government
- coupsudden overthrow of a government
Esperanto puĉo, ŝtatrenverso
- puĉosudden overthrow of a government
- ŝtatrenversosudden overthrow of a government
Estonian riigipööre
- riigipööresudden overthrow of a government
Finnish vallankaappaus
- vallankaappaussudden overthrow of a government
French coup d'État, putsch
- coup d'Étatsudden overthrow of a government
- putschsudden overthrow of a government
German Staatsstreich, Putsch
- Staatsstreichsudden overthrow of a government
- Putschsudden overthrow of a government
- Coupsudden overthrow of a government
Greek πραξικόπημα
- πραξικόπημα (praxikópima)sudden overthrow of a government
Hebrew הֲפִיכָה, פּוּטְשׁ
- הֲפִיכָה (hafikhá)sudden overthrow of a government
- פּוּטְשׁ (putsh)sudden overthrow of a government
Hindi तख़्तापलट, राज्यविप्लव
- तख़्तापलट (taxtāplaṭ)sudden overthrow of a government
- राज्यविप्लव (rājyaviplav)sudden overthrow of a government
Hungarian államcsíny, puccs
- államcsínysudden overthrow of a government
- puccssudden overthrow of a government
Icelandic valdarán, hallarbylting
- valdaránsudden overthrow of a government
- hallarbyltingsudden overthrow of a government
- ríkisbyltingsudden overthrow of a government
Indonesian kudeta
- kudetasudden overthrow of a government
Italian colpo di stato, golpe
- colpo di statosudden overthrow of a government
- golpesudden overthrow of a government
Japanese クーデター, 政変
- クーデター (kūdetā)sudden overthrow of a government
- 政変 (seihen)sudden overthrow of a government
Korean 쿠데타, 정변
- 쿠데타 (kudeta)sudden overthrow of a government
- 정변 (jeongbyeon)sudden overthrow of a government
Latin eversio reipublicae, interceptio regiminis
- eversio reipublicaesudden overthrow of a government
- interceptio regiminissudden overthrow of a government
Latvian valsts apvērsums, pučs
- valsts apvērsumssudden overthrow of a government
- pučssudden overthrow of a government
Lithuanian valstybės perversmas, pučas
- valstybės perversmassudden overthrow of a government
- pučassudden overthrow of a government
Malay rampasan kuasa, کوديتا
- rampasan kuasasudden overthrow of a government
- کوديتاsudden overthrow of a government
- کوڤsudden overthrow of a government
Māori upokotaua
- upokotauasudden overthrow of a government
Norwegian Bokmål statskupp
- statskuppsudden overthrow of a government
Polish zamach stanu, przewrót
- zamach stanusudden overthrow of a government
- przewrótsudden overthrow of a government
- puczsudden overthrow of a government
Portuguese golpe de estado
- golpe de estadosudden overthrow of a government
Romanian lovitură de stat, puci
- lovitură de statsudden overthrow of a government
- pucisudden overthrow of a government
Russian переворо́т, путч
- переворо́т (perevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
- путч (putč)sudden overthrow of a government
- госуда́рственный переворо́т (gosudárstvennyj perevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
- госпереворо́т (gosperevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
Slovak štátny prevrat, puč
- štátny prevratsudden overthrow of a government
- pučsudden overthrow of a government
- prevratsudden overthrow of a government
Spanish golpe de estado, golpismo
- golpe de estadosudden overthrow of a government
- golpismosudden overthrow of a government
Swahili mapinduzi ya serikali
- mapinduzi ya serikalisudden overthrow of a government
Swedish statskupp, kudeta
- statskuppsudden overthrow of a government
- kudetasudden overthrow of a government
Tagalog kudeta
- kudetasudden overthrow of a government
Tamil இராணுவப் புரட்சி
- இராணுவப் புரட்சி (irāṇuvap puraṭci)sudden overthrow of a government
Thai รัฐประหาร
- รัฐประหาร (rát-tà-bprà-hǎan)sudden overthrow of a government
Turkish darbe, askerî darbe
- darbesudden overthrow of a government
- askerî darbesudden overthrow of a government
Ukrainian переворо́т, держа́вний переворо́т
- переворо́т (perevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
- держа́вний переворо́т (deržávnyj perevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
- путч (putč)sudden overthrow of a government
- держпереворо́т (deržperevorót)sudden overthrow of a government
Urdu مُسَلَّح بَغاوَت, بَغاوَت
- مُسَلَّح بَغاوَت (musallah baġāvat)sudden overthrow of a government
- بَغاوَت (baġāvat)sudden overthrow of a government
Vietnamese chính biến, đảo chính
- chính biếnsudden overthrow of a government
- đảo chínhsudden overthrow of a government
Welsh cipiad awdurdod, gwrthryfel
- cipiad awdurdodsudden overthrow of a government
- gwrthryfelsudden overthrow of a government
Yiddish איבערקערעניש, פּוטש
- איבערקערעניש (iberkerenish)sudden overthrow of a government
- פּוטש (putsh)sudden overthrow of a government
Cite this entry
APA
coup d'état. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coup%20d'%C3%A9tat
MLA
“coup d'état.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coup%20d'%C3%A9tat. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coup d'état,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coup%20d'%C3%A9tat.
Source: coup d'état on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.