coup de théâtre
- noun
- /kuː də teɪˈɑːtrə/
- Literature
:
coup de théâtre
- The startling coup de théâtre at the end of the play left the audience in shock and disbelief.
Examples
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The playwright introduced a coup de théâtre in the final act that left the audience speechless.
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The film’s unexpected ending served as a classic coup de théâtre that redefined the characters’ relationships.
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Her resignation was a political coup de théâtre nobody had anticipated.
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What a fantastic coup de théâtre that was!
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The play ended with a shocking coup de théâtre!
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When the hero revealed his true identity, it was a brilliant coup de théâtre that transformed the whole story.
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The last-minute twist in the film was such a coup de théâtre that viewers were buzzing with excitement as they left the theater.
Synonyms
738
1.0
An event that happens suddenly and is not expected
232
4.1
A sudden change in a story or situation that surprises people
35
4.1
A sudden change in a situation that makes plans or results different
7
3.8
An event when something surprising and important is made known after waiting
2
4.2
A surprising event in a story that changes the expected outcome
A sudden dramatic surprise in a play or story that shocks the audience
Antonyms
How Dramatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
coup + de + théâtre
This is a French loanphrase whose parts ('coup' roughly 'a sudden stroke/act' and 'théâtre' 'theatre') give a plausible compositional sense of a sudden theatrical act or twist, so there is a partial semantic link. However, the foreign preposition 'de' and the idiomatic conventionalisation of the phrase mean a B1 learner who merely knows the constituent words may not reliably infer the precise meaning 'sudden dramatic twist', so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Coup de théâtre comes from French and literally joins coup, meaning a sudden hit, and théâtre, meaning theatre. Imagine a sudden action on stage that changes everything, and that's why it now means 'a sudden dramatic twist' that surprises the audience.