Mar ‧ ie An ‧ toi ‧ nette /ˌmæri æntwəˈnet $ məˌriː- ˌmɑːri-/ BrE AmE
(1755–93) the Queen of France from 1774 to 1792 and the wife of Louis XVI. She became unpopular because she did not seem to care about the poor citizens of France, and when she was told that they did not have enough bread to eat, she is supposed to have said, ‘Let them eat cake’. She and Louis XVI were put in prison during the ↑ French Revolution , and were killed by having their heads cut off by the ↑ guillotine .