assail

[ uh-seyl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
2. to attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, abuse, etc.:

   to assail one's opponent with slander.

   Synonyms: malign, asperse

3. to undertake with the purpose of mastering:

   He assailed his studies with new determination.

4. to impinge upon; make an impact on; beset:

   His mind was assailed by conflicting arguments.

   The light assailed their eyes.

assail

/ əˈseɪl /

verb

1. to attack violently; assault
2. to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument
3. to beset or disturb

   his mind was assailed by doubts

4. to encounter with the intention of mastering

   to assail a problem

   to assail a difficult mountain ridge

Derived Forms

• asˈsailment, noun
• asˈsailer, noun
• asˈsailable, adjective

Other Words From

• as·saila·ble adjective
• as·saila·ble·ness noun
• as·sailer noun
• as·sailment noun
• unas·sailed adjective
• unas·sailing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of assail¹

1175–1225; Middle English asaylen < Old French asalir < Late Latin assalīre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + salīre to leap, spring

Word History and Origins

Origin of assail¹

C13: from Old French asalir, from Vulgar Latin assalīre (unattested) to leap upon, from Latin assilīre, from salīre to leap

Synonym Study

See attack.

Example Sentences

Back in February, he assailed long-term care workers who declined the vaccine.

From Washington Post

As warming mercilessly assailed them, I clung to the knowledge that the glacier I knew best remained the exception.

From Outside Online

Cordell Hull, the congressman known as the “father” of the income tax, assailed the decision, according to scholar Marjorie Kornhauser.

From ProPublica

Certainly, the past year alone has assailed each of us with the fear of covid infection, loneliness, the death of loved ones and sickening instances of racial and ethnic injustice.

From Washington Post

Ahead of the vote, GOP lawmakers assailed the legislation as a defund-the-police effort.

From Washington Post

Politics seems to assail Carvalho, forcing him to take up former cudgels and defend his corner.

From The Daily Beast

The only group that it was okay to assail, she says, was liberals.

From The Daily Beast

Days later, Al Gore suddenly surfaced after months of silence to assail President Obama for his failure to lead on climate change.

From The Daily Beast

She felt the temptation assail her, as of late it had been assailing her faintly, to explore this territory.

From Project Gutenberg

The bishop and his episcopals can not be hair-brained enough to seek to restore old conditions and assail our liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

They did not understand this manouvre, and supposed it to signify that the lieutenant did not deem it prudent to assail them.

From Project Gutenberg

Without waiting for them to assail him, the youth dashed forward like a panther at bay.

From Project Gutenberg

If he wheeled about to assail the buck he was without a single weapon, while the Sioux was doubly armed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bash
• berate
• blast
• criticize
• impugn
• lambaste
• revile
• trash
• vilify