ACCOSTING Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

accosting

verb

present participle of accost

as in approaching

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

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of accosting Cox said that Hudson has been dealing with dirty looks on campus, with some accosting him for his public connection to the case. — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 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 First accosting Zeke in the Ponderosa parking lot with a completely unsolicited offer of mentorship, George seems determined, for no apparent reason, to mold the young man in his image. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 June 2026 Fallon quipped that White must not be able to leave the house for fear of actors accosting him asking to be on the show. — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 26 Feb. 2026 Maybe the white-haired woman in the Phillies hoodie has done something more egregious than being outhustled for a home run ball in the stands at LoanDepot Park in Miami, and then accosting the dad who retrieved it and gave it to his son for the kid's birthday. — Neal Rubin, Freep.com, 10 Sep. 2025 The trailer features minimal dialogue, and Farrell, 49, is seen running through the streets and accosting casino employees at one point. — Jack Smart, People.com, 19 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for accosting

Verb

In his incident report, Garner said another officer activated a Taser's electrical arc to try to scare HeeHaw away, but the donkey continued approaching.

— CBS News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Surveillance footage showed Alfozan approaching the conference room on several occasions despite lacking authorization to enter or participate in meetings there.

— Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of approaching

Verb

Matt Passmore, Emily Rose, Gabriel Nagy and Hudson Macready star in the film, which tells the true story of a family confronting addiction and loss while finding its way back to one another.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
These kinds of tradeoffs will keep confronting tech leaders as long as that disparity persists.

— semafor.com, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of confronting

Browse Nearby Words

accosted

accosting

accosts

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Accosting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/accosting. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of accosting

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes