Coup de grâce (French)
The crowning blow / The final blow / A nail in someone's coffin / The last straw / The final nail in someone's coffin
Colpo di grazia
The crowning blow / The final blow / A nail in someone's coffin / The last straw / The final nail in someone's coffin
Colpo di grazia
Meanings
Lit.: a death blow administered to kill to end the suffering of a mortally wounded person or animal. Fig.: an action that tops an event that has been gradually getting worse
Examples
Their marriage was already on the rocks and discovering her husband's years-long affair was the coup de grâce
Il loro matrimonio era già in crisi, ma la scoperta della relazione adulterina del marito gli ha dato il colpo di graziaI was already dead tired, and that dinner date was the crowning blow
Ero già stanco morto. Quell'invito a cena mi ha dato il colpo di graziaThe rise in property taxes came as the coup de grâce; already deep in debt, he was now forced to sell the business
L'aumento delle tasse sulla proprietà gli ha dato il colpo di grazia: già sommerso dai debiti, ha dovuto svendere la sua attività Origin
French for "stroke of mercy", the phrase originally referred to the merciful fatal stroke that put a dying man out of his misery