Massacrer (en. To massacre)

/masakʁe/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench
verb
To kill or injure a large number of people cruelly.
The invaders massacred innocents in the village.
Les envahisseurs ont massacré des innocents dans le village.
To ravage something to the point of making it unrecognizable.
The movie massacred the original book with too many changes.
Le film a massacré le livre original avec de trop nombreuses modifications.
To severely criticize a work, an argument, etc.
The review massacred the artist's latest album.
La critique a massacré le dernier album de l'artiste.

Etymology

From Old French 'massacrer', meaning 'to kill brutally'.

Common Phrases and Expressions

to kill off a character
To shockingly kill a character in a narrative.
massacrer un personnage
to butcher a piece
To interpret music disastrously.
massacrer un morceau
to massacre the language
To make numerous language mistakes.
massacrer la langue

Related Words

massacre
Large-scale slaughter, often with a genocidal connotation.
massacre
butcher
To kill brutally, often used for animals.
boucher
extermination
The act of completely destroying something, often used for species.
extermination

Slang Meanings

To crush someone in a competition or debate.
He massacred his opponent during the match.
Il a massacré son adversaire lors du match.
To shoot blindly without precision.
He massacred his target with his shots.
Il a massacré sa cible avec ses tirs.
To do something in a very clumsy manner.
He clumsily assembled the furniture.
Il a massacrément monté le meuble.