assailant

noun

as·​sail·​ant ə-ˈsā-lənt 

plural assailants

: a person who attacks someone violently

an assault by an unknown assailant

She could identify the assailant and his two accomplices, and she wanted to press charges.

—Jennifer Baumgardner

Detectives speculated that she may have been punched on the chin, perhaps knocked unconscious by her assailant.

—Joseph Wambaugh

Synonyms of assailant

• attacker
• assaulter

Examples of assailant in a Sentence

the darkness prevented me from getting a good look at my assailant

Recent Examples on the Web

During a Fourth of July protest outside an Alvarado detention center, at which demonstrators were setting off fireworks, an assailant fired a gun, wounding a police officer. —Oriana Van Praag, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2026

The attacker’s identity and age wasn't immediately released, but Antofagasta governor Ricardo Díaz said that the assailant was a student. —ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026

Moments before, the assailant had pushed a 30-year-old man standing next to Williams onto the tracks as well without saying a word, cops said. —Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026

Another woman grabbed a bottle and smashed it on the initial assailant’s head, police said. —Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1523, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for assailant

• covalent
• divalent
• inhalant
• hexavalent
• monovalent
• multivalent
• pentavalent
• polyvalent
• tetravalent
• univalent

Legal Definition

assailant

noun

as·​sail·​ant ə-ˈsā-lənt 

: a person who commits criminal assault