putsch

Definition

A coup d'état; an illegal effort to forcibly overthrow the current government.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Putsch, from Alemannic German Putsch (“knock, thrust, blow”), of imitative origin.

Example Sentences

• "Afterward, the ringleaders of the failed putsch were publicly executed."
• "2010, Thompson, M. 2010. Modernisation theory’s last redoubt: democratisation in east and south east Asia. In Yin-wah Chu and Siu-lun Wong (ed), 'East Asia's new democracies: deepening, reversal, non-liberal alternatives'. London, Routledge.p98. "They have broken the democratic rules of the game by supporting popular mobilisation that has resulted in what can be dubbed a "people power putsch".""