pièce de résistance

/piˈɛs də ɹəˈzɪs.tɑ̃s/

noun

A masterpiece; the most memorable accomplishment of one’s career or lifetime.

Similar
magnum opusmasterpiece
OriginFrench pièce de résistance →
First used late 18th c.
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Meanings

nounpièce de résistance (plural pièces de résistance)

plural pièces de résistance · alternative common piece de resistance

  1. A masterpiece; the most memorable accomplishment of one’s career or lifetime.

    The pièce de résistance was the workbench, easily a hundred years old.

    2026 April 24, Robert Klose, “Fix my watch, tell me a story”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC

    Synonyms: magnum opus, masterpiece

  2. The chief dish at a dinner.First known use late 18th c.

    Our pièce de résistance was a traditional preparation of poularde de Bresse en vessie: an entire chicken, stuffed with truffles and foie, steamed inside an inflated pig’s bladder in a bath of liquor and still more truffles.

    2023, C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey, Hutchinson Heinemann, page 30

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA masterpiece; the most memorable accomplishment of one’s career or lifetime.

Similar
magnum opusmasterpiece
Also see
masterpiecepeng ting

Origin

  1. Frenchpièce de résistance
  2. Englishpièce de résistance

Borrowed from French pièce de résistance; the first use of this phrase in English appears in 1789 in Richard Cumberland's novel Arundel.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch pièce de résistance, magnum opus
  • pièce de résistancemasterpiece
  • magnum opusmasterpiece
  • meesterwerkmasterpiece
  • levenswerkmasterpiece
French pièce de résistance
  • pièce de résistancemasterpiece
German Pièce de résistance
  • Pièce de résistancemasterpiece
Italian capolavoro
  • capolavoromasterpiece
Latin magnum opus
  • magnum opusmasterpiece
Māori mounga
  • moungamasterpiece
Polish gwóźdź programu
  • gwóźdź programumasterpiece
Portuguese obra prima
  • obra primamasterpiece
Spanish obra maestra
  • obra maestramasterpiece
Cite this entry
APA

pièce de résistance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pi%C3%A8ce%20de%20r%C3%A9sistance

MLA

“pièce de résistance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pi%C3%A8ce%20de%20r%C3%A9sistance. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pièce de résistance,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pi%C3%A8ce%20de%20r%C3%A9sistance.

Source: pièce de résistance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.