lèse-majesté
/liz ˈmædʒəsti/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.46 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Convictions for the crime of Lèse-Majesté are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of the army."
- "George, old scout, you must get a move on. You must light out if you want to spend the rest of your life out of prison. Slugging a Serene Highness is lèse-majesté. It’s worse than hitting a policeman. You haven’t got a moment to waste."
- "And I have a hazy memory of members of the Beyhive, Beyoncé's fandom, posting disobliging commentary about my byline photo following a podcast discussion in which I was judged to have committed some forgotten act of lèse-majesté."
- "It is hard to know if this rift is real or performative. In Trump’s eyes, Meloni’s sin appears to be one of lèse-majesté – specifically, failing to show the due deference of a subordinate to her boss."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: laesa maiestās
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /liz ˈmædʒəsti/