Dictionary

lèse-majesté en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /liz ˈmædʒəsti/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French lèse-majesté, from Latin laesa maiestās (“injured majesty”).

Meanings

1. The crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
   • 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:
   • 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. 2026 July 1, Riccardo Alcaro, “Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • 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. 2025 October 25, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, “Call yourself a fan?”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
   • 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. 1917, James W. Gerard, My Four Years in Germany:

Forms

Relateds

lesion

Translations (19)

th พิซซ่า (crime of violating majesty) · ru оскорбле́ние вели́чества (crime of violating majesty) · nl majesteitsschennis (crime of violating majesty) · km ប្រមាថព្រះចេស្ដា (crime of violating majesty) · it lesa maestà (crime of violating majesty) · th ความผิดต่อองค์พระมหากษัตริย์ (crime of violating majesty) · km រុងរឿងប្រមាថ (crime of violating majesty) · km ការប្រមាថព្រះចេស្ដា (crime of violating majesty) · ca lesa majestat (crime of violating majesty) · ja 不敬罪 (crime of violating majesty) · es lesa majestad (crime of violating majesty) · pt lesa-majestade (crime of violating majesty) · el έγκλημα καθοσιώσεως (crime of violating majesty) · fi majesteettirikos (crime of violating majesty) · pl obraza majestatu (crime of violating majesty) · cmn 大不敬 (crime of violating majesty) · vi khi quân (crime of violating majesty) · fr lèse-majesté (crime of violating majesty) · de Majestätsbeleidigung (crime of violating majesty)