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

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.

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.

stench

puanteur. « The putrid stench of death. » « The stench of betrail. »

boot camp

camp d'entraînement (pour nouvelles recrues)

bewilder

dérouter, déconcerter → the silence from Alex had hurt and bewildered her.

blend

1- mélange → a blend of spices 2- mélanger → to blend all the ingredients together → a band that blends jazz, folk and classical music 3- to blend together = se confondre → paint the walls and ceilings the same colour so they blend together.

rebuke

1- réprimande, reproche → he had received a stern rebuke from his superiors ... 2- réprimander → to rebuke sb for sth = reprocher qch à qn. Ex: she often rebuked David for his authoritarian attitude to his clients. → to rebuke sb for doing sth = reprocher à qn d'avoir fait qch. Ex: he rebuked foreign governments for trying to force change through their aid policies.

pageant

(beauty pageant) concours de beauté

to pass away

déceder

warfare

guerre. Ex : their experience of modern warfare was very small. → chemical warfare : guerre chimique → biological warfare : guerre biologique → psychological warfare : guerre psychologique

geek

1- crack en informatique 2- (= computer nerd) informaticien boutonneux

conjuror

prestidigitateur, illusionniste

trickery

ruse ex : they are notorious for resorting to trickery in order to impress their clients.

to toss

1- lancer, jeter. Ex: she screwed the paper into a ball and tossed it into the fire ; he tossed Bill a can of beer. 2- ballotter Ex: as the plane was tossed up and down, the pilot tried to stabilise it ; the sea tossed the small boat like a cork. 3- to toss a salad : tourner une salade 4- to toss pancakes : faire sauter des crêpes 5- to toss a coin : jouer à pile ou face (= to flip a coin)→ we tossed a coin to decide who would go out and buy the buns.

to dangle

1- [hands, feet, legs] pendre → He sat on the wall, his legs dangling → huge earrings dangled from her ears. 2- faire balancer → he dangled the keys in front of me. 3- (fig) faire miroiter → the prospect of an exciting buy is dangled before the media → to dangle a carrot in front of sb (=tendre la carotte à qn) → the club has dangled a £400,000 carrot in front of Darlington.

wrinkle

1- ride 2- pli → he noticed a wrinkle in her stocking (bas)

stroll

promenade → leisurely stroll can be more beneficial than a marathon run → to go for a stroll
se promener → they strolled along the beach.
stroller = poussette

rehearsal

1- (for show, performance, dance) répétition. Ex : rehearsals for a concert tour.

discard

1- se débarrasser de → they ate food discarded by the soldiers → read the guidelines before discarding the box. 2- abandonner (fig.), renoncer à → they should discard the present system entirely.

to slam

1- claquer. Ex: to slam the door ; the door slammed 2- =throw → to slam sb/sth against the wall = jeter qn/qch contre le mur 3- éreinter, démolir (fig.). Ex: the new proposals have been slammed by all the opposition parties. 4- to slam into sth = s'écraser contre qch. Ex: the plane slammed into the building.

Mots difficiles en anglais