rien de trop
Preserved but no longer current.
See DE TROP. Rienzi, Cola di (re en' zi). A patriot of Rome who incited the people to rise against the Papal and Imperial governments. In May 1347, he was declared Tribune, but his power was crushed and he fled. In 1354 Pope Innocent VI sent him to Rome once more as a Senator, but while attempting to quell a riot he met his death. In Rienzi (1835) Bulwer Lytton tells the story of the Tribune.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “rien de trop” mean?
See DE TROP. Rienzi, Cola di (re en' zi). A patriot of Rome who incited the people to rise against the Papal and Imperial governments. In May 1347, he was declared Tribune, but his power was crushed and he fled. In 1354 Pope Innocent VI sent him to Rome once more as a Senator, but while attempting to quell a riot he met his death. In Rienzi (1835) Bulwer Lytton tells the story of the Tribune.
Is “rien de trop” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.