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

The Outer Threat follows an astrophysicist who, after making a groundbreaking extraterrestrial discovery, is forced to flee with his family from their home — pursued through the countryside by a relentless and anonymous assailant. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 11 Nov. 2025

According to the military, the assailants wanted to repeat Monday what happened during the 2014 attack in Peshawar. —NPR, 11 Nov. 2025

According to court documents, the assailant who attacked him was searching for the speaker of the House. —Cnn.com, Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2025

The assailant, later told authorities the attack was intended for Nancy Pelosi, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. —Lauren Peller, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2025

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