execution-style tactic
- noun
- Offensive
:
táctica al estilo de una ejecución
- Investigators discovered multiple victims, all murdered using execution-style tactics.
Examples
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The film depicted the ruthless execution-style tactic employed by the organization to eliminate dissenters.
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The criminal used an execution-style tactic to eliminate his rivals.
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The police reported that the victim was killed in an execution-style tactic late last night.
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Authorities reported that the murder was carried out with an execution-style tactic.
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The police reported that the victim was killed using execution-style tactics in a targeted attack.
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Investigators discovered multiple victims, all murdered with execution-style tactics that left little evidence.
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The film depicted the brutal execution-style tactic as a method of control employed by the crime syndicate.
How Violent
- NSFW
38
6.7
- NSFW
∞
1.6
- Offensive
- Specialized
378
4.5
84
6.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
execution-style + tactic
The phrase is compositionally built from 'execution' (a killing carried out, often formally) + '-style' (in the manner of) modifying 'tactic' (a planned method), so its meaning 'a method carried out like an execution' is directly derivable from the parts. This construction (NOUN-style + tactic) is a transparent, cross-linguistically familiar way to form modifiers, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.
Etymology
Execution-style tactic may come from the image of old public executions, where a person was killed in a calm, controlled way by one or more shooters. That's why the phrase now describes a violent method done in a planned, close-range way—'a method of violence resembling a formal execution'.