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

If sharing is so great at bringing people together why, when accosted with an unceasing soliloquy of self-disclosure, do so many feel the urge to flee? — Jessica Dulong, CNN Money, 16 June 2026

In that incident, the victim was accosted by two men who demanded valuables. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 31 May 2026

The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis 2 mission were accosted on Capitol Hill earlier this month by an aggressive man, who accused them of faking their moon mission. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 21 May 2026

In previous years, the 31-year-old originally from Chicago might have lashed back when accosted on the ice. — Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 9 May 2026