confrontation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a situation where you face someone to argue about a problem or disagreement.
a face-to-face encounter between people with opposing views, typically involving heated or hostile communication.
Simple“The manager wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the angry customer.”
In context“The mediator worked tirelessly to prevent the heated debate from escalating into a full-blown personal confrontation between the two executives.”
UsageOften used with the verbs 'avoid' or 'seek'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a fight or battle between two groups, like armies or protesters.
a physical or armed conflict between opposing forces or groups.
Simple“There were violent confrontations between the police and the protesters in the city centre.”
In context“Diplomatic efforts were intensified to prevent a military confrontation along the disputed border as tensions reached a breaking point.”
UsageCommonly used in political and military reporting.
Synonyms
“There was a tense moment when a crow appeared to be alarmed at the sight of a stork in its airspace and swooped in close, but nothing came of the confrontation.”
“On Wednesday an attempt by Israeli security forces to dislodge the settlers led to confrontations with a bigger group.”
From Middle French. Morphologically confront + -ation.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.