attack

attaque, agression

Tentative de blesser une personne ou d’endommager quelque chose.

En anglais simple : An attempt to hurt a person or damage something.

• He survived a violent attack.
• The dog’s attack left her badly hurt.
• Police are investigating attacks on local shops.

Comment l'utiliser : an attack on someone/something (The attack on the shop happened at night.)

Synonymes : assault

Expressions courantes : violent attack, attack on someone, dog attack

attaque, critique

Critique sévère visant à nuire à la réputation de quelqu’un ou à affaiblir une idée ou un droit.

En anglais simple : Strong criticism intended to damage someone’s reputation or weaken an idea or right.

• His speech was an attack on the government.
• She faced personal attacks after the interview.
• They called the ban an attack on freedom.

Comment l'utiliser : an attack on someone/something (The article contained an attack on her record.)

Synonymes : criticism, assault

Contraires : praise

Expressions courantes : personal attack, verbal attack, attack on something

attaque, offensive

Action militaire par laquelle des soldats cherchent à vaincre un ennemi ou à prendre un lieu.

En anglais simple : A military action in which soldiers try to defeat an enemy or take a place.

• The army launched an attack at dawn.
• Their attack forced the enemy to retreat.
• Several attacks on the bridge failed.

Comment l'utiliser : an attack on something (They planned an attack on the enemy base.)

Synonymes : assault, offensive

Contraires : defence

Expressions courantes : launch an attack, air attack, surprise attack

attaquer, agresser

Essayer de blesser quelqu’un ou d’endommager quelque chose en utilisant la force.

En anglais simple : To try to hurt someone or damage something using force.

• The dog attacked him.
• Soldiers attacked the enemy camp at night.
• Why did they attack the bus?

Synonymes : assault, strike

Contraires : defend

Expressions courantes : attack someone, attack a village, attack from behind

critiquer, attaquer

Critiquer quelqu’un très durement ou lui adresser de graves reproches.

En anglais simple : To criticize or blame someone very strongly.

• He attacked the manager’s behaviour.
• The newspapers attacked her for the mistake.
• She was attacked publicly by her opponents.

Comment l'utiliser : attack someone for something (They attacked him for wasting public money.)

Synonymes : criticize, condemn

Contraires : praise

Expressions courantes : attack someone verbally, attack someone for something, attack someone publicly, attack a policy

attaquer, saper

Chercher à détruire ou à affaiblir fortement quelque chose, souvent en tenant des propos contre lui.

En anglais simple : To try to destroy or seriously weaken something, often by speaking against it.

• The false claims attacked her reputation.
• His lawyers attacked the witness’s credibility.
• They used rumours to attack his character.

Synonymes : undermine, assail

Expressions courantes : attack someone’s reputation, attack someone’s credibility, attack someone’s character

s’attaquer à, aborder

Commencer à traiter une tâche ou un problème avec énergie et détermination.

En anglais simple : To start dealing with a task or problem with energy and determination.

• Let’s attack the hardest problem first.
• She attacked the cleaning with fresh energy.
• We can attack the remaining tasks tomorrow.

Comment l'utiliser : attack something with something (He attacked the task with enthusiasm.)

Synonymes : tackle, set about

Expressions courantes : attack a problem, attack a task, attack the homework

d’attaque

Entraîné, gardé ou conçu pour combattre, faire du mal ou critiquer fortement les autres.

En anglais simple : Trained, kept, or designed to fight, harm, or strongly criticize others.

• They trained an attack dog.
• An attack helicopter flew over the base.
• The candidate released several attack ads.

Expressions courantes : attack dog, attack helicopter, attack ad