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
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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
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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
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 11, List 1
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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:
The mob was there to accost and hurl insults at 58-year-old Kiai Ashari, the caretaker of the Ndholo Kusumo Islamic boarding school, as he was escorted away by police.
From BBC ● May 13, 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
You wait for guests to leave the secure perimeter, and politely accost them for all the details.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2022
I was lonely in my room at night, where Netflix would accost me with the passive aggressive, "Are you still watching?"
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2022
If I was in their company, Falconer could not accost me again.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
School marshals escort her and her fellow board members to their cars to ensure no one accosts them.
From Salon ● May 15, 2024
An undead crone, motion sensitive, accosts passers-by from the hedge.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2023
“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
She accosts me at the door; she must have been watching through the window.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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
Ring doorbell footage from a neighbour was also played to the jury showing two women approaching and leaving the McCanns' home on 7 December 2024, the same night Mr and Mrs McCann were "accosted".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025
A few weeks prior, a surfer was reportedly accosted by a “feral, almost demonic” sea lion that he said dragged him off his board in Oxnard and stalked him in the water.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2025
Near the National Woman’s Party headquarters, a second mob accosted several suffragists carrying banners.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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
Definitions 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.
