accost
Americanverb (used with object)
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to confront boldly.
The beggar accosted me for money.
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to approach, especially with a greeting, question, or remark.
-
(of prostitutes, procurers, etc.) to solicit for sexual purposes.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accostsimple
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accostssimple
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have accostedperfect
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has accostedperfect
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am accostingprogressive
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are accostingprogressive
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is accostingprogressive
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have been accostingperfect progressive
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has been accostingperfect progressive
Past
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accostedsimple
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had accostedperfect
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was accostingprogressive
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were accostingprogressive
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had been accostingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accost
First recorded in 1570–80, accost is from the Late Latin word accostāre to be or put side by side. See ac-, coast
Explanation
To accost is to approach someone aggressively or confront them in an inappropriate way. Accost describes a confrontation — one that's often aggressive in nature. You're likely to be accosted by angry picketers if you wear your finest fur coat to a march against animal cruelty. The paparazzi make their living by accosting celebrities, pushing in close to snap candid photos as the stars leave their limos.
Vocabulary lists containing accost
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 11, List 1
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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:
The mob was there to accost and hurl insults at 58-year-old Kiai Ashari, the caretaker of the Ndholo Kusumo Islamic boarding school, as he was escorted away by police.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
A rare moment of high drama flares when a pregnant woman, Agata, played with firecracker fierceness by Anna Chlumsky, barrels down the basement stairs to accost Renia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
“No American should accost another for their beliefs,” he tweeted.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2023
You wait for guests to leave the secure perimeter, and politely accost them for all the details.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2022
The bar opened into the lounge too, and that would or should have been the place to accost him and even inquire, except for the fact that he did not use the bar.
From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner
School marshals escort her and her fellow board members to their cars to ensure no one accosts them.
From Salon ● May 15, 2024
“No one accosts me in the street. No one threatens my life, and nobody shoots me,” said Miller, who is white.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2023
Now, he seems to want something, showing up randomly without approaching her until, terrified, she accosts him.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
Emi herself yells at someone who’s inconsiderately parked his truck on a stretch of curb, and later at an older man who accosts her in the street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2021
She accosts me at the door; she must have been watching through the window.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old doctor of engineering was accosted as she walked through Mexico City.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
That’s when he said three men accosted him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
Mrs McCann arrived home first and "was accosted" by Ms Wandelt, who tried to stop her entering her property, while she said Mrs Spragg had been "aggressive".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
“I was accosted by Sacramento Police Department officers, falsely accused of driving under the influence, and involuntarily detained for several hours at the hospital,” Cervantes said in her statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
They had not long separated, when Miss Bingley came towards her, and with an expression of civil disdain accosted her:
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Fans have been seen accosting board members in hotel lobbies and airports, while on the pitch the team languish 14 points off the Premiership summit as Europe continues to to be a traumatic experience.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
A video seen by the Associated Press showed scores of Turkish Cypriots accosting a much smaller group of Slovak and British U.N. soldiers trying to hold them back from starting work inside the buffer zone.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
He has done informal surveys, accosting people about their wing habits, including at one recent college football game in Ohio.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 10, 2023
Last January, a video resurfaced of Greene accosting David Hogg, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2022
Little regiments of children lurked by the doorways, apparently for the express purpose of accosting foreign missionaries.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
