Lexique des mots difficiles en anglais, Capes d'anglais, TOEFL, TOEIC

schmuck

prépuce
syn. de prick : connard, imbécile

bouquet « a bunch of flowers »
a bunch of keys : un trousseau de clés
[+bananas] régime
a bunch of grapes : une grappe de raisin
[+people] groupe → « We were a pretty inexperienced bunch of people. → They're a great bunch : c'est une chouette équipe. the best of the bunch : le or la meilleur(e) de la bande. »
bunches = couettes → « She had her hair tied in bunches. »

timely

opportun → the timely arrival of the maintenance man

pitfall

piège, chausse-trape → « The pitfalls of working abroad are numerous. »

hound

poursuivre avec acharnement → the newspapers hounded him → to be hounded by the press = être harcelé par la presse
chien de meute
the hounds = la meute

footage

enregistrement, séquences → exclusive footage from this year's festival → the court was shown video footage from security cameras .

brat

morveux → he's a spoiled brat = c'est un enfant gâté.

devin

soothsayer

semi-colon

point virgule

yank

coup sec → after a couple of yanks, the rope came free.
to give sth a yank tirer d'un coup sec sur qch
[+rope, cord] tirer d'un coup sec → to yank an emergency cord.
to yank sth open : ouvrir qch d'un coup sec → she yanked open the drawer = elle ouvrit le tiroir d'un coup sec.

chunk

[+meat] gros morceau → to cut the meat into chunks
[+bread] quignon

eggplant

aubergine

greed

(for money, power) : avidité, cupidité → all the hatred and violence, greed and selfishness in the world → It was a crime motivated by pure greed.
greed for sth : avidité de qch, soif de qch → his greed for knowledge and experience → an insatiable greed for personal power and glory
gourmandise → I wasn't really hungry, it was just pure greed that made me eat it.

den

tanière, antre
repaire → a drinking den : un repaire d'ivrognes → illegal drinking dens
a den of sth (vice, debauchery) : un lieu de qch → his flat became a den of debauchery → « a den of greed »

snippet

bribes → on the bus I heard this interesting snippet of conversation.

foreground

premier plan → in the foreground au premier plan → this is another worry that has come to the foreground in recent years.
to put sth in the foreground (=make a priority) mettre qch en avant → issues that were placed in the foreground

womb

utérus, matrice

endeavour

tentative « his first endeavours in the field were wedding films. »
effort « the benefits of investment in scientific endeavour. » > human endeavour = effort humain « a marvel of engineering and human endeavour. »
to endeavour to do sth = tenter de faire qch, s'efforcer de faire qch « he endeavoured to adopt a positive attitude. »

glitch

pépin → a technical glitch = un pépin technique → manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output.

smoulder

1 [ashes, rubble] être encore chaud → the ruins are still smouldering. 2 [hatred, resentment] ne pas être éteint → his hatred for his brother still smoulders after twenty years.

swanky

classe (=swish, fancy) → one of the swanky hotels that line the Pacific shore at Acapulco.

tingle

1- picotement, frisson → a tingle of excitement = un frisson d'excitation 2- frissonner (d'excitation) → hours after he had kissed her, she was still tingling → fans who tingle with anticipation as they await the arrival of the teams

vibe

atmosphère → he says he loves the city and the vibe here. >> to get good vibes from sb = ressentir des ondes positives avec qn >> to feel the vibes ressentir les ondes positives → I could feel the vibes and it gave me a tingle.

glossy

1- brillant → her glossy brown hair → lipstick with a glossy finish 2- glossy magazine : magazine de luxe → all the glossy magazines carried pictures of the Royal Wedding.

cameltoe

slang term that refers to the outline of a woman's vulva when seen through tight, form-fitting clothes

crassness

grossièreté

disposable

jetable

scout

1- explorer → I don't have time to scout the area for food 2- éclaireur, découvreur

makeover

relooking → she received a cosmetic makeover at a beauty salon as a birthday gift → the chance to give your living-room a makeover

wisecrack

vanne, trait d'esprit → listen, bud, enough of the wisecracks, ok ?

bud

bourgeon → early summer, just before the buds open => budding = bourgeonnant, naissant → she looked up through the budding trees → Russia's budding democracy

lurk

lurking in the bushes outside.
rôder → I dared not open the door for fear of the photographers lurking outside.
planer (fig.)→ this threat always lurks somewhere in the background.
menacer → fascism is always lurking somewhere.

thong

lanière ; string

comprehensively

1- complètement → the house was comprehensively rebuilt → the government has comprehensively rejected the UN resolution 2- à plate couture → England were comprehensively beaten by South Africa. L'Afrique du Sud a battu l'Angleterre à plate couture.

wind up

1- remonter → to wind up the clockwork mouse => remonter une fenêtre → he started winding the window up. 2- [+company] fermer → They wound up the company last year. 3- terminer, clôturer → could we wind up this meeting as quickly as possible? 4- to wind up doing sth = finir par faire qch → I wound up walking all the way home → she'll wind up losing that bag if she doesn't look after it. 5- to wind up in jail se retrouver en prison → you'll wind up in jail if you carry on like this.

skinny

maigre

bind

attacher his hands were bound behind the post the tape which was used to bind the files
unir it is the threat of persecution that binds them together.
obliger the treaty binds them to respect their neighbour's independence to be legally bound to do sth.
to be in a bind : être dans le pétrin
to be in a double bind : être dans une impasse

choke

1- étouffer → Philip choked on his drink → he choked on a fishbone. 2- étrangler → a woman was found choked to death 3- boucher, obstruer → a canal choked with old tyres and dead dogs → the centre of the city was choked with cars. 4- starter → the car is on full choke and it still won't start.

to chuck

lancer, jeter → I feel like chucking the bottle through the windscreen. plaquer → he's fed up because his girlfriend's just chucked him.

weed

1- mauvaise herbe → the garden's full of weeds. 2- gringalet 3- désherber → mum was busy weeding the garden.

haze

1- brume → they vanished into the haze near the horizon → the sun smouldered through a thin summer haze. 2- nuage → he smiled at him through a haze of smoke and steaming coffee → a haze of cigarette smoke. >> hazy = brumeux, vague → a warm, hazy summer → she had only a hazy idea of Britain's prison problems.

bliss

félicité, bonheur absolu « a scene of domestic bliss » « marital bliss »
it was bliss! = c'était merveilleux!

kick

1- donner un coup de pied → he kicked me → he kicked the ball hard. 2- ruer → that old mare kicks like a mule. 3- to get a kick out of sth = se régaler de qch → they loved argument, and got a kick out of court proceedings. 4- to do sth for kicks = faire qch parce qu'on aime les émotions fortes → I guess she does all these dangerous sports for kicks.

shove

1- pousser → he dragged her out to the door and shoved her into the street → she shoved as hard as she could. 2- to shove sb out of the way : écarter qn en le poussant 3- fourrer → We'll shove an extra paragraph in here → he shoved a cloth in my hand. Il m'a fourré un torchon dans la main. 4- to give sb/sth a shove : pousser qn/qch → the car won't start. Can you give it a shove ?

pantyhose

collant → a pair of pantyhose

tangle

1- enchevêtrement → a tangle of wires : un enchevêtrement de câbles 2- to be/get in a tangle [string, wires, hair] être emmêlé/s'emmêler → I've got my shoelaces in a bit of a tangle ; her hair tends to tangle 3- to be/get o.s. in a tangle : être en pleine confusion, être un sac de nœuds → we had got ourselves in a tangle (nous étions en pleine confusion) ; my tax affairs were in a complete tangle (mes affaires fiscales étaient un véritable sac de nœuds). ◊ to be tangled up [wires, string, sheets] = être emmêlé(e).
to get tangled up = s'emmêler.

Mots difficiles en anglais