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

At half-time of the mostly engrossing, controversial Manchester derby on Sunday, Marc Guehi was accosted by a Sky Sports reporter and asked a few questions. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Osama, donning his bulletproof blue press jacket and armed with his camera, is accosted by a woman wailing that 200 of her neighbors are gone. — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026

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