WORD OF THE DAY: ASSAIL
verb | uh-SAIL
What It Means
Assail has a number of meanings relating to violent or powerful confrontations. It can be a straightforward synonym of assault, as in “assailed by armed robbers,” or it can mean “to oppose, challenge, or criticize harshly and forcefully,” as in “citizens assailing the proposed changes.” It can also mean “to trouble or afflict in a way that threatens to overwhelm,” as in “assailed by fears.” Assail can also apply to powerful perceptions: a smell that assails you, for example, is strongly noticeable and usually unpleasant. Occasionally, assail is used to mean “to encounter, undertake, or confront energetically,” as in “with a deadline fast approaching, we assailed the project with renewed vigor.”
// Most worthwhile achievements require that one persevere even when assailed by doubts.
Examples of ASSAIL
“What does it even mean to be good in a world as complex as ours, when great inequity remains unaddressed and often seems too daunting to assail, and when seemingly benign choices—which shoes to buy, which fruit to eat—can come with the moral baggage of large carbon footprints or the undercompensated labor of migrant workers?” — Nancy Kaffer, The Detroit (Michigan) Free Press, 9 Jan. 2020
Did You Know?
If you’re assailed by doubts about the word assail, allow us to set your mind at ease by providing some surety. Assail comes, by way of Anglo-French, from the Latin verb assilire (“to leap upon”), which in turn comes from the Latin verb salire, meaning “to leap.” (Salire is the root of a number of English words related to jumping and leaping, such as somersault and sally, as well as assault, a synonym of assail.) When assail was first used in the 13th century, it meant “to make a violent physical attack upon.” By the early 15th century, English speakers were using the term to mean “to attack with words or arguments.” Now the verb can apply to any kind of aggressive encounter, even if it is not necessarily violent or quarrelsome, as in “Upon entering the room, we were assailed by a horrible odor.”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary