lèse-majesté
US/liz ˈmædʒəsti/
lèse-majesté noun: the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
Noun
lèse-majesté
- The crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
- 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...1917, James W. Gerard, My Four Years in Germany
- 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.1919, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves, London: George Newnes
lèse-majesté meaning in Thai and Vietnamese
lèse-majesté in Thai
- crime of violating majesty
- ความผิดต่อองค์พระมหากษัตริย์ kwaam pìt dtòr ong prá máhăa gàsàt, พิซซ่า pít-sâa
lèse-majesté in Vietnamese
- crime of violating majesty
- khi quân
Forms of lèse-majesté
| alternative form | lèse majesté |
|---|---|
| alternative form | lese majeste |
| alternative form | lese majesty |
| alternative form | lese-majesty |
| alternative form | leze majesty |
Origin of lèse-majesté
Unadapted borrowing from French lèse-majesté, from Latin laesa maiestās (“injured majesty”).
Questions about lèse-majesté
- What does lèse-majesté mean?
- Lèse-majesté means the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
- What is lèse-majesté in Thai?
- Lèse-majesté in Thai is ความผิดต่อองค์พระมหากษัตริย์ (kwaam pìt dtòr ong prá máhăa gàsàt), พิซซ่า (pít-sâa). See Lèse-majesté meaning in Thai.
- What part of speech is lèse-majesté?
- Lèse-majesté is a noun.
- How do you pronounce lèse-majesté?
- Lèse-majesté is pronounced /liz ˈmædʒəsti/ (US).
Words near lèse-majesté in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lèse-majesté (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lese majesty.wav.
Cite this entry: “lèse-majesté.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/l%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.