assailant
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of assailant
From the Middle French word assaillant, dating back to 1525–35. See assail, -ant
Explanation
A wife who sends a vase sailing at her husband's head might be considered an assailant, or attacker. Or, they might be playing a game of dodgeball with the furniture. Assailant comes from the Latin ad- meaning "at" and salire meaning "to leap." Leap at someone and you're an assailant — someone who attacks. You'll usually hear this word when lawyers or police are talking about attacks, because most people use its synonym attacker in casual conversation. Have you ever been attacked by ants, looking down to see your foot covered in them? Think of the word ant when you spell the word assailant to remember its ending.
Vocabulary lists containing assailant
Fever 1793
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Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)
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This Week in Words : December 23 - 29, 2017
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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.
But Megan didn’t name him as her assailant at first.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026
Shomrim—a Jewish community security organization—said its members stopped the assailant and held him until the police arrived.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
The assailant, she told investigators, offered to drive her to a nearby pay phone.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
She said the assailant had a local accent, with a trace of another, and a shiny hairless chest.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
He looked about imploringly for help in defending his country’s future against the obnoxious calumnies of this sly and sinful assailant.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
