coup de grâce
noun
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Borrowed directly from French and first appearing in English at the end of the 17th century, coup de grâce (also sometimes styled without the circumflex as coup de grace) translates literally as "stroke of grace" or "blow of mercy," and originally referred to a mercy killing, or to the act of putting to death a person or animal who was severely injured and unlikely to recover. (In some contexts the term is used to refer to the final act of executing a convicted criminal.) Later, coup de grâce had come to mean "an act or event that puts a definite end to something." Other coup terms that have made the jump from French to English include coup de main, for a sudden, forceful attack, and coup d’état for a violent overthrow of a government usually by a small group.
Examples of coup de grâce in a Sentence
Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 21 Nov. 2024
The campaign’s coup de grace was a 270-inflatable dragon coiled around the Empire State Building.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 25 Sep. 2024
Nearly 40 years later, not only are there enough people to afford such a vehicle, but GM’s new 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 stands as something of a coup de grace for Juechter, who retired Wednesday after roughly 47 years with the Detroit automaker.
—Michael Wayland, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2024
When the crew finally departs, SpaceX will deliver the coup de grace with its U.S. Deorbit Vehicle in 2030.
—Ryan Erik King / Jalopnik, Quartz, 22 July 2024
The coup de grace was Parsons getting in the ring with a Sumo wrestler in Tokyo.
—Clarence E. Hill Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 May 2024
The coup de grace was lead singer Sydney Sierota asking if the band could count on seeing everyone again during their upcoming US tour, and that the band would be back soon.
—Preston Jones, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024
And as Bloomberg noted last month, talk of DEI has fallen precipitously in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action, in what some fear might be the coup de grace to what was once a zealous championing of corporate diversity efforts.
—Ruth Umoh, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2023
And finally, on Saturday, Springsteen & Co. returned to deliver the coup de grace with another three-hour blitz that defied Father Time.
—USA TODAY, 9 July 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Coup de grâce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coup%20de%20gr%C3%A2ce. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
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