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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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
Musk found that cartoonist’s tweet and called his ban “insane,” inspiring his followers to assail r/comics.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2025
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
Let other humorists, satirists and columnists assail you with the day-by-day account.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2022
‘All is vain, you say, if he has the Ring. Why should he think it not vain to assail us, if we have it?’
From "The Return of the King" 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
Ragins — whose book “Frontier: A Rebellious Guide to Psychosis and Other Extraordinary Experiences,” assails the U.S. mental health system and plots a smarter course — had a fairly normal conversation with the client.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
Her documentary, “One Child Nation,” which assails the country’s population-control policy, was shortlisted for the documentary Oscar in 2019.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2021
Norton, Andrews, assails Schleiermacher, 48; attacks transcendentalism, 123; controversy with George Ripley, 124.
From Transcendentalism in New England A History by Octavius Brooks Frothingham
Scientists who drew attention to that disconnect, such as Judith Curry, were assailed rather than debated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Critics assailed the carefully curated lifestyle presented by Meghan as tone-deaf.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
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
I sympathize with those whose hearts were pained, as mine was pained, when Mr. Max so cynically assailed our sacred customs.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Only in America can one get rich by assailing the wealthy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 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
HLA supporters have spent weeks assailing Szabo’s previous cost estimates for the measure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
Lone men, riding wild, brought word of foes assailing their east-borders, of orc-hosts marching in the Wold of Rohan.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
