counteroffensive
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of counteroffensive
Explanation
In military operations, attacks made from a defensive position are often called a counteroffensive. For example, an army might launch a counteroffensive against invading forces. If a region or nation is able and willing to fight back against military attacks, it will mount an armed counteroffensive. The term was coined during World War I, to describe the act of striking back after an invasion or offensive. It is from the verb counter, "go against," which derives from encounter, originally "meet an enemy," from the Old French encontre, "a meeting or fight."
Vocabulary lists containing counteroffensive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There wasn’t much time to launch a counteroffensive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
The EU pursues its trade counteroffensive with some economic wind at its back.
From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, then Milley’s Ukrainian counterpart, led the army that defeated Russian forces attempting to seize Kyiv in the early days of the war and drove them back in Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
From Slate • Mar. 19, 2025
It’s a proactive counteroffensive, built on showing that democratic alternatives exist and can work both to identify and solve real problems, and to bring people together.
From Salon • Dec. 7, 2024
The marines had started a counteroffensive up near Khe Sanh, and moved up there instead of into the Phuoc Ha Valley.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
