Synonyms of assailing

assailing

verb

present participle of assail

1

as in attacking

to criticize harshly and usually publicly

the union organizers assailed the chemical company for failing to provide a safe working environment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• attacking
• slamming
• scolding
• criticizing
• blasting
• abusing
• savaging
• excoriating
• insulting
• lambasting
• castigating
• scathing
• bashing
• cursing
• trashing
• harassing
• jumping (on)
• tying into
• berating
• belaboring
• sailing into
• reviling
• vituperating
• haranguing
• potshotting
• harrying
• reprimanding
• blaspheming
• affronting
• disparaging
• belittling
• vilifying
• execrating
• slandering
• chiding
• beating up on
• whipping
• lighting into
• profaning
• chastising
• libeling
• slurring
• traducing
• rebuking
• fulminating
• imprecating
• bad-mouthing
• lacing (into)
• aspersing
• blackguarding
• lashing (out)
• putting down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• praising
• commending
• hailing
• complimenting
• lauding
• acclaiming

2

as in assaulting

to take sudden, violent action against

the small birds assailed the larger one that had threatened their nest

Synonyms & Similar Words

• attacking
• assaulting
• raiding
• storming
• striking
• ambushing
• robbing
• charging
• invading
• besetting
• rushing
• swarming
• turning (on)
• trashing
• siccing
• descending (on or upon)
• jumping (on)
• going in (on)
• flying at
• setting on
• setting at
• going at
• setting upon
• pouncing (on or upon)
• tearing into
• bushwhacking
• pitching into
• besieging
• bombarding
• beating up on
• waylaying
• flanking
• sacking
• rounding on
• surprising
• ravaging
• barraging
• plundering
• battering
• mobbing
• lighting into
• blitzing
• bombing
• nuking
• buffeting
• mugging
• harrying
• beleaguering
• ganging up (on)
• pillaging
• cannonading
• looting
• enveloping
• bum-rushing
• overrunning
• cannoning
• plastering
• ambuscading
• pressing
• banging away (at)
• foraying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protecting
• covering
• defending
• securing
• guarding
• shielding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of assailing

The race partly revolved around the war in Gaza, with Lander assailing Goldman for not being critical enough of Israel. — Jesse Bedayn, Fortune, 24 June 2026

Rabb was propelled by a constellation of progressive groups, charting a path to victory partly by assailing his own party as listening more to donors than voters. — CBS News, 24 May 2026

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been assailing oil terminals and refineries deep inside Russia with long-range drones and missiles, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s economy. — ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026

Trump has singled out Moore for criticism, blaming him for a Potomac sewage spill, assailing his handing of Baltimore's bridge collapse and invoking a controversy over his military record. — Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 18 Feb. 2026

Horvath, 43, has been one of the mayor’s most outspoken critics over the past year, assailing her record on homelessness and last year’s Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead. — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026

In 1495 Columbus retaliated by assailing Taíno villages and capturing chiefs. — Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025