accost
Americanverb (used with object)
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accosts,
present (3rd person singular)
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accosted,
past participle, past
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accosting
present participle
-
to confront boldly.
The beggar accosted me for money.
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to approach, especially with a greeting, question, or remark.
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(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
-
had accostedperfect
-
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
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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:
And the careful, steadily reported, once-a-week format may seem like a dinosaur in this hyper-paced timeline where deluges of information accost us every ticking second.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 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
"No American should accost another for their beliefs," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2023
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
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
The coach, Saul, who’s never seen the kid before, looks on, flummoxed: Who accosts a stranger in this way?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2021
An hour later, he accosts her in the midway, drops to his knees, and wraps his arms around her legs.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
The paper reports the 68-year-old was accosted at a cash machine, but fought back against the thief, who it says "scuttled away empty handed".
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Ramirez asked his attorney, Luis Castillo, if the agents who accosted him “had violence on their mind when they used that word.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old doctor of engineering was accosted as she walked through Mexico City.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
"I cannot move out of my house without being accosted and challenged by the police and driving me back home," Lungu told the BBC in May 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
“At the wedding? Or at Starbucks, when you randomly accosted me?”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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 Washington Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
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
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
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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.
