accost
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
-
has accostedperfect
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am accostingprogressive
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are accostingprogressive
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is accostingprogressive
-
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
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:
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
"I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation's Capitol yesterday," she added on Twitter.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2020
His black eyes accost me as if I am the devil made flesh He wears a severe black satin doublet and hose.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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
Now, he seems to want something, showing up randomly without approaching her until, terrified, she accosts him.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
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
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
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old doctor of engineering was accosted as she walked through Mexico City.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
The McCanns, the court heard, then came across the defendants face-to-face when Ms Wandelt and Mrs Spragg turned up outside their home on 7 December 2024 and "accosted" them.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025
“I was accosted by Sacramento Police Department officers, falsely accused of driving under the influence, and involuntarily detained for several hours at the hospital,” Cervantes said in her statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
He says he was then dismissed but Mr Jeffries later accosted him in a bathroom.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2025
Not even if you avoid getting lost or accosted in the tangled web of twisting streets and dead-end alleys.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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 Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
He has done informal surveys, accosting people about their wing habits, including at one recent college football game in Ohio.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 10, 2023
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.
