Word.ws English Dictionary

coryphée

Syllables: co·ry·phée/kɒɹɪˈfeɪ/US/kɑɹɪˈfeɪ/

coryphée noun: the conductor or leader of the chorus of a drama.

Noun

coryphée (plural coryphées)

  1. (historical, Ancient Greece) The conductor or leader of the chorus of a drama.
    • The piece [...] contains a passage for men's voices marked "Les Travailleurs," topped by a tenor solo (in alto clef) marked "Coryphée," a term originally meaning leader of the chorus, as in a Greek tragedy. [...] [T]he aforementioned "Coryphée" line grows out of a recitative for first tenor.1986, Ralph P. Locke, “The Rue Monsigny and Salle Taitbout: Music in the Formative Years”, in Music, Musicians and the Saint-Simonians, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, part...
    • Two coryphées, or coryphæi, the term for the leader of a Greek chorus, were stationed in towers on either side of the stage. A device borrowed from Léon Chancerel's Mission de Jeanne d'Arc, the coryphées are present for the entire length of the drama. Like the messenger, they commented upon the...2013, Lucie Kayas, Christopher Brent Murray, “Olivier Messiaen and Portique pour une fille de France”, in Christopher Dingle, Robert Fallon, editors, Messiaen Perspectives, Farnham, Surrey...
  2. (broadly) The chief or leader of an interest or party.
    • It was likewiſe cuſtomary to drink hard at theſe kinds of feaſts; yet it ſeems, according to the ſame author [Posidonius], that the coryphee, or head-gueſt, always began firſt, and put the cup, or rather pitcher, about to his next neighbour, till it had gone round: for, it ſeems, they all drank out...1748, George Sale et al., “The Antient State of the Gauls, to Their Conquest by Julius Cæsar, and from thence to the Irruption of the Franks”, in An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of...
    • [...] Louis the Fourteenth,—that glory, / That Coryphée of all crown'd pates, / That pink of the Legitimates— [...]1823, Thomas Brown, the Younger [pseudonym; Thomas Moore], “Fable VIII. Louis Fourteenth’s Wig.”, in Fables for the Holy Alliance, Rhymes on the Road, &c. &c., London: Printed for Longman, Hurst...
  3. (ballet) A ballet dancer ranking above a member of the corps de ballet and below a soloist.
    • Mademoiselle Coralie Montmorrillion, a talented artiste from the grand opera, at Paris, and now principal coryphée at the theatre royal— [...]1839 March, William E[vans] Burton, “Leaves from a Life in London. No. VI. Coralie, the Coryphee.”, in William E[vans] Burton, editor, Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine and American Monthly Review...
    • A newspaper was in his hand, joy in his eyes, and as many capers in his toes as would make the fortunes of a Coryphée.1841 March, Phelm O’Toole, “An Irish Love Adventure”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, American edition, volume VII, New York, N.Y.: Published by Jemima M. Mason, (late Lewer,) […], →OCLC, page 241

Examples of coryphée in a sentence

  • Two coryphées, or coryphæi, the term for the leader of a Greek chorus, were stationed in towers on either side of the stage.2013, Lucie Kayas, Christopher Brent Murray, “Olivier Messiaen and Portique pour une fille de France”, in Christopher Dingle, Robert...
  • Talked of an infinity of subjects, Shiel giving some good mimicries of Dan, and having evidently no vast respect for his great Coryphée.1836 February 27, Thomas Moore, “[Diary of Thomas Moore.] 1836.”, in Lord John Russell [John Russell, 1st Earl Russell], editor, Memoirs...
  • The Coryphées now arrive, as well as the Corps de Ballet; the former holding a higher rank and receiving a higher salary than the latter.1847, Albert [Richard] Smith, “Of the Morning Rehearsal”, in The Natural History of the Ballet-girl, London: D. Bogue, […], →OCLC, page 27:
  • The sick throw away their crutches and dance like coryphées, the enfeebled strain to lift logs and boulders, [...]1981, T[homas] Coraghessan Boyle, Water Music, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2006, →ISBN...

Forms of coryphée

pluralcoryphées
alternative formcoryphee

Origin of coryphée

Borrowed from French coryphée, from Latin coryphaeus, from Ancient Greek κορυφαῖος (koruphaîos, “leader of the chorus in an Ancient Greek drama”), from κορῠφή (korŭphḗ, “top of the head, crown”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head, top; horn”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘belonging to, pertaining to’).

Questions about coryphée

What does coryphée mean?
Coryphée means the conductor or leader of the chorus of a drama.
How do you use coryphée in a sentence?
Two coryphées, or coryphæi, the term for the leader of a Greek chorus, were stationed in towers on either side of the stage.
What part of speech is coryphée?
Coryphée is a noun.
How do you pronounce coryphée?
Coryphée is pronounced /kɒɹɪˈfeɪ/ (UK).
What is the plural of coryphée?
The plural of coryphée is coryphées.

Words near coryphée in the dictionary

  1. corypheuses
  2. coryphodont
  3. coryphodonts
  4. coryphoid
  5. coryphoids
  6. coryphée
  7. coryphées
  8. corys
  9. corystid
  10. corystids
  11. corystosperm

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coryphée (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-coryphée.oga.

Cite this entry: “coryphée.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coryph%C3%A9e. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.