assail
Americanverb (used with object)
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assails,
present (3rd person singular)
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assailed,
past participle, past
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assailing
present participle
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to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
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to attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, abuse, etc..
to assail one's opponent with slander.
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to undertake with the purpose of mastering.
He assailed his studies with new determination.
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to impinge upon; make an impact on; beset.
His mind was assailed by conflicting arguments.
The light assailed their eyes.
verb
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to attack violently; assault
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to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument
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to beset or disturb
his mind was assailed by doubts
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to encounter with the intention of mastering
to assail a problem
to assail a difficult mountain ridge
Synonym Usage
See attack.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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assailablenessnoun
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assailernoun
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assailmentnoun
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assailableadjective
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unassailedadjective
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unassailingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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assailsimple
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assailssimple
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have assailedperfect
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has assailedperfect
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am assailingprogressive
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are assailingprogressive
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is assailingprogressive
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have been assailingperfect progressive
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has been assailingperfect progressive
Past
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assailedsimple
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had assailedperfect
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was assailingprogressive
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were assailingprogressive
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had been assailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of assail
1175–1225; Middle English asaylen < Old French asalir < Late Latin assalīre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + salīre to leap, spring
Explanation
To assail is to attack or assault — with throwing stars, fists, words or, less tangibly but just as violently, with troubles or doubts. Believe it or not, assail evolved from the ancient Latin word assilire, which means "to jump on." So picture an attacker jumping on you, throwing punches and maybe some insults, too. Because assail also means to ridicule or heap your worries upon someone. As novelist Charlotte Bronte noted, “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last.” Think on that.
Vocabulary lists containing assail
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Othello
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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.
See Examples For:
But sociologists in the scholar-activist mold note that Du Bois also believed in using sociological truth in the pursuit of activism, promising in 1906 to “never cease to protest and assail the ears of America.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
I watched this, sitting two rows behind Trump, as he turned and walked out to face the cameras and assail the process that had brought him there.
From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2025
Go ahead, criticize the Biden administration and assail its record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2024
He at once promised to bring back “order” at the border while also vowing not to assail migrants in the manner of Mr. Trump and his allies.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
If we make no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dáin also.’
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Meanwhile, the document assails America’s friends across the Atlantic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
But when an unspecified disease assails T'Challa's body from within, Shuri is powerless.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2022
Simone Biles blasts USA Gymnastics’ settlement proposal; Aly Raisman assails ‘massive cover up’
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2020
He assails the teaching of queer and gender theory there and elsewhere.
From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2020
The first impression felt by Joan at these surmises is one of joy at being free, and no remorse assails her at having denied the truth.
From The Executioner's Knife Or Joan of Arc by Eug?ne Sue
The competitive threat posed by cheaper Chinese substitutes has once again assailed semiconductor stocks, leading to dramatic falls in some of the biggest memory chip makers in Asia on Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Roberts once signed on to a Kagan dissent that assailed the shadow docket.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
Since then, Pratt has assailed Bass for being on a diplomatic trip to Ghana when the fire ignited, despite a forecast of dangerously high winds and “critical fire conditions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
After ChatGPT launched in late 2022, a wave of proposals assailed open development as dangerous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
We spent the weekend spiritlessly sightseeing, assailed by unspoken anxieties.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
He has already moved on from assailing the frontier labs to milking them by selling them compute at a steep markup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
A former star of “The Hills” who lost his home in the Palisades fire, he has surprised many political observers with his success assailing the city’s handling of the 2025 firestorms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
GM went full speed ahead, pouring money into national ad campaigns assailing things like men eating tofu.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
For his part, Fauci—a veteran of numerous appearances before Congress—held his ground, assailing accusations made against him as “seriously distorted,” “absolutely false,” and “simply preposterous.”
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 3, 2024
The assailing hosts halted, foiled by the silent menace of rock and wall.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
