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 assailants attacked a mosque in Kpenya village after attacks in a string of villages in the remote Borgu Local Government Area of Niger state Friday, police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said. — ABC News, 22 Aug. 2026

The shooter who gunned down a man in Fort Worth’s West 7th entertainment district in 2024 amid an argument about a person whom the assailant was dating has pleaded guilty to murder. — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Aug. 2026

Their disappearance was discovered only two hours later, when tourists stumbled upon two Antonello paintings, apparently abandoned by the assailants, leaning against the museum fence. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 18 Aug. 2026

The assailant fled the scene and had not been identified or arrested as of Tuesday afternoon, and police said the attack remains under investigation. — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 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