onslaught
Americannoun
-
onslaughts
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of onslaught
1615–25; < Dutch aanslag a striking, (earlier) attack (equivalent to aan on + slag blow, stroke; akin to slay ), with assimilation to obsolete slaught slaughter
Explanation
Onslaught is a military term that refers to an attack against an enemy. It's safe to say that no one wants to be caught on the receiving end of an onslaught, because there will be lots of danger, destruction and probably death. One way to help you remember the brutal meaning of onslaught is through the word's English origin, slaught, meaning "slaughter." But onslaught can be used in non-military ways, too. It can mean a barrage of written or spoken communication, like an onslaught of emailed birthday wishes. Taken individually, the birthday wishes are nice but an onslaught is too many, too fast, all at once. Onslaught can also mean a sudden and severe start of trouble. For example, if your office is unprepared for the onslaught of flu season, the entire sales force will be home sick at the same time.
Vocabulary lists containing onslaught
Words from "The Avengers"
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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"The Diary of Anne Frank," Vocabulary from the drama
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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:
Below, what the past year revealed about the art-crime onslaught.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Homeowners in Dana Point are working to install emergency protection from the onslaught of waves, including a boulder barrier, according to the statement from the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Despite facing notable challenges and coming of age in a culture infected by “big woe,” or an onslaught of despairing information, Moore believes there is still reason for young people to be optimistic.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
That South African onslaught came from the off.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Now I curl up on my bed, my heart pounding from the onslaught.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
In October, the South American country unveiled its first drone battalion to counterattack and defend against drone onslaughts.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
One drone he pilots can throw up an effective cloak of invisibility against electronic onslaughts, but others he has trained on don’t hold up well in that domain, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
Knight, Sciver-Brunt, Jones and Gibson or Kemp are capable of providing brutal onslaughts if they have the comfort of a solid platform behind them.
From BBC ● May 20, 2024
"This funding is critical to stopping those onslaughts, hardening Ukraine’s cyber defences and increasing the country’s ability to detect and disable the malware targeted at them."
From Reuters ● Jun. 18, 2023
These men, a picked striking force of gallants, resumed the onslaughts of the previous afternoon.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
