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.
-
(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 wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2023
You wait for guests to leave the secure perimeter, and politely accost them for all the details.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2022
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
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
As she returns home, apparently from a workout that left her emotional and sweaty, Hakeem accosts her in the doorway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2015
She accosts me at the door; she must have been watching through the window.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
Jurors heard Botezatu was accosted after he left Latin American restaurant Amazonico in Berkeley Square, central London, just before midnight on 28 January.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 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
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has deported and barred 26-year-old Johnson Wen from reentering the country after he crashed the yellow carpet and accosted star Ariana Grande, according to several reports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old doctor of engineering was accosted as she walked through Mexico City.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Three men suddenly accosted them, asking loudly all at once if they wanted to sell their rations for yen.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
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
Given her reaction to being approached by the CeraVe rack and her fear of town halls, Mace may think the only appropriate forum for accosting a representative is the hallway outside the bathroom.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 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
‘I can’t bear that dreadful woman accosting me every time I happen to walk by.’
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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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.
