coup de grace
Final killing stroke
A coup de grace is a finishing blow—the strike that ends suffering or settles a matter decisively.
Originally the death blow delivered to a mortally wounded person or animal, it now applies figuratively to any final action that completes a defeat or destruction: The scandal was the coup de grace for his political career.
Pronounced approximately "coo duh GRAHSS."
Final, fatal stroke
- knockoutIncapacitating final blow
- final strokeConcluding decisive action
- executionCompleting a planned task
- dispatchSend with speed
fatal strike · quietus · clincher · finisher
Concluding part of performance
- denouementStory's final unraveling
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
- culminationHighest or final point
swan song · last act · curtain call · final chapter · epilogue · terminus · coda · endgame
Painless death for suffering
- euthanasiaDeliberate death for relief
- reliefEasing of distress
- clemencyMerciful treatment of offenders
- putting downCriticizing harshly or placing
Decisive moment of change
- clincherFact that settles matters
- game-changerSomething transforming everything
- tipping pointThreshold triggering major change
- decisive momentPivotal juncture determining outcome
watershed · breakthrough · pivotal moment · critical juncture · determinant · decider · defining moment
deathblow
Final, fatal stroke
- knockoutIncapacitating final blow
- final strokeConcluding decisive action
- executionCompleting a planned task
fatal strike · dispatch · quietus · clincher · finisher
finale
Concluding part of performance
- denouementStory's final unraveling
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
culmination · swan song · last act · curtain call · final chapter · epilogue · terminus · coda · endgame · closing act
mercy killing
Painless death for suffering
- euthanasiaDeliberate death for relief
- reliefEasing of distress
- clemencyMerciful treatment of offenders
turning point
Decisive moment of change
- clincherFact that settles matters
- game-changerSomething transforming everything
- tipping pointThreshold triggering major change
decisive moment · watershed · breakthrough · pivotal moment · critical juncture · determinant · decider · defining moment
- French Loanwordsa la carte, ballet, a la mode, au revoir, bon appetit
- finishing blowsfinishing blow, final blow, deathblow, finisher, finishing move
- finishing movesfinisher, finishing move, final blow, death blow, knockout
- signature movesfinishing move, trademark, special attack, special move, signature move
- endingsending, the end, finish, close, final
- finishfinish, complete, conclude, end, finalize
coup de graceglancing blow
Oblique, partial impact
reprieve · stay of execution · first strike · rescue · salvation
coup de gracebeginning
Initial stage of something
first step · genesis · first strike · inception · commencement
coup de gracetorture
Deliberate infliction of suffering
slow death · death by a thousand cuts · torment · twisting the knife · salt in the wound
grace, graceful, coup, gracefully, coupe, gracefulness, coup d'état, coup de grâce