coup d’État

\ku d‿e.ta\

/\ku d‿e.ta\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“coup d’État” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Renversement du pouvoir existant par un groupe de personnes, qui agit souvent par la force.

Key facts for coup d’État
PropertyValue
Headwordcoup d’État
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ku d‿e.ta\
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coup d’État” sits in French frequency

coup d’État falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

coup d’État is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ku d‿e.ta\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for coup d’État, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is coup d’État, spelled C-O-U-P- -D-’-É-T-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Renversement du pouvoir existant par un groupe de personnes, qui agit souvent par la force.
  2. 2
    Action qui décide de quelque chose d’important pour le bien de l’État.
  3. 3
    Action qui décide de quelque chose d’important pour le bien de l’État.
  4. 4
    Tout ce qui est décisif dans quelque affaire importante.

Synonyms

golpepronunciamientoputsch

Antonyms

contre-coup d’Étatcontre-putsch

This word in other languages

coup(English)golpe de estado(Español)Putsch(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "coup d’État"?
"coup d’État" is spelled C-O-U-P- -D-’-É-T-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ku d‿e.ta\.
What does "coup d’État" mean?
As a noun, "coup d’État" means: Renversement du pouvoir existant par un groupe de personnes, qui agit souvent par la force.
How do you pronounce "coup d’État"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coup d’État" is \ku d‿e.ta\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coup d’État" come from?
"coup d’État" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “coup d’État”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P- -D-’-É-T-A-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ku d‿e.ta\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list