Synonyms of accost

accost

verb

as in to confront

to approach and speak to (someone) often in an angry, aggressive, or unwanted way

He was accosted by peddlers selling touristy trinkets on the street.

She was so famous that people would accost her on the street and ask for an autograph.

Related Words

• confront
• approach
• encounter
• face
• dare
• meet
• front
• brave
• breast
• defy
• corner
• outface
• brazen
• face up (to)
• beard
• outbrave
• resist
• affront
• stand
• challenge
• repel
• withstand
• oppose
• contend (with)
• combat
• fight
• square (off)
• battle

Dissimilar Words

• avoid
• shun
• eschew
• evade
• escape
• elude
• shake
• dodge
• sidestep
• shirk
• duck
• funk

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of accost

According to a police affidavit, Sanchez accosted Perry Tole after the Indiana resident had backed his truck into the loading docks of a downtown Indianapolis hotel. — Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

In 1982, walking through a terminal at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, the Kissingers were accosted by Ellen Kaplan, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, a cult leader with both Marxist and right-wing associations. — Robert D. McFadden, Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2026

Jenkinson also faces a second charge of accosting a different man in the same location the day prior. — Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

Court records show that 60-year-old Bradley Kyle Martin, of Dearborn Heights, is charged with using a computer or internet to communicate with another person to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes. — Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 25 June 2026