coup de maître

\ku də mɛtʁ\

/\ku də mɛtʁ\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Action, ouvrage par lequel on fait preuve d’une grande habileté, action d’éclat.

Corpus desk

Index FR-coup-de-maitre · coup de maître · French

coup de maître · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for coup de maître
PropertyValue
Headwordcoup de maître
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ku də mɛtʁ\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « coup de maître » en français

coup de maîtrereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

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

Rare enough to double-check

coup de maître is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ku də mɛtʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Action, ouvrage par lequel on fait preuve d’une grande habileté, action d’éclat.".

No misspelling variants are generated for coup de maître in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is coup de maître, spelled C-O-U-P- -D-E- -M-A-Î-T-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Action, ouvrage par lequel on fait preuve d’une grande habileté, action d’éclat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how coup de maître appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Au point où il en est, un beau mariage serait un coup de maître.
  2. Homme de l'art avant tout, Jomini ne pouvait retenir son impression sur la partie qu'il voyait engagée sous ses yeux, qu'il aurait voulu jouer, et dont il appréciait chaque coup à sa valeur : un coup de maître le transportait ; un coup de mazette le faisait souffrir.

This word in other languages

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 de maître"?
"coup de maître" is spelled C-O-U-P- -D-E- -M-A-Î-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ku də mɛtʁ\.
What does "coup de maître" mean?
As a noun, "coup de maître" means: Action, ouvrage par lequel on fait preuve d’une grande habileté, action d’éclat.
How do you pronounce "coup de maître"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coup de maître" is \ku də mɛtʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coup de maître" come from?
"coup de maître" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list