What does countercoup mean?
A countercoup is a counterstroke aimed at reversing a coup — most commonly, an attempt by forces loyal to a deposed government to overthrow the group that has just seized power. The word combines the English prefix 'counter-', meaning 'against' or 'in response to', with 'coup', from the French phrase coup d'état, literally a 'blow against the state'. Countercoups are staples of political history: juntas that take a capital by force frequently find themselves unseated within days by rival officers, and the resulting struggle between coup and countercoup can determine a nation's leadership in a matter of hours. Journalists and historians use the term for its precision, since it signals not merely resistance but an organized attempt to retake control. Figuratively, it can describe any rapid, decisive countermove that undoes a rival's sudden advantage, though such non-political uses are less common.
nounA retaliatory seizure of power or counterstroke made in response to a coup, especially an attempt to overthrow those who have just seized power. More broadly, any decisive countermove that reverses a rival's sudden gain.
- A counterstroke against a coup, especially an attempt to depose those who have just seized power by force.
- By extension, any swift countermeasure that reverses a rival's sudden advantage in politics, business, or sport.
"Within days of the junta seizing the palace, loyalist generals mounted a countercoup and restored the president to office."
"Loyalist officers launched a countercoup within forty-eight hours and arrested the rebel commanders."
"The incumbent party answered the opposition's surprise takeover of the senate with a legislative countercoup."
Regular English plural; used when referring to multiple events across different countries or historical periods.
"The region's turbulent decade saw two failed coups and three countercoups."
History's coups often fail twice — first to the plotters, then to the generals who oust them in a countercoup, sometimes within seventy-two hours.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of countercoup
Countercoup derives from the prefix 'counter-' (from Latin 'contra', meaning 'against') attached to 'coup', which entered English from French in the seventeenth century as part of phrases like 'coup d'état'. The French noun 'coup' means 'a blow' or 'a stroke', ultimately tracing back through Old French 'colp' to Latin 'colaphus', a blow with the fist, itself borrowed from Greek 'kolaphos'. The compound 'countercoup' arose in modern political vocabulary, likely in the nineteenth or twentieth century, as journalists needed a concise term for the frequent phenomenon of a second, retaliatory seizure of power. Its relatives include 'recoup', meaning to recover a loss, which shares the same underlying idea of a compensating blow or stroke.
Related word forms
How countercoup is actually used
Register is formal to journalistic; the word appears most often in political and military reporting. It carries connotations of urgency, legitimacy (the countercoup is often framed as restoring the prior order), and high stakes. The extended figurative sense in business or sports is rarer and should be used sparingly.
Easily confused with countercoup
A coup is the initial sudden seizure of power, while a countercoup is a subsequent attempt by others to overthrow those who carried out the coup.