lese-majesty

Noun

lèse-majesté

1. 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