English Lexicon

Attack

/əˈtæk/
verbnounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #800 frequency
Full Thesaurus

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    An aggressive and violent action against a person or place.

    "The city was under attack during the war."
As verb
  1. 1

    To take aggressive action against someone or something.

    "The soldiers were ordered to attack at dawn."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'attack' originates from the Middle French 'attaquer', which itself comes from the Latin 'attaccare', meaning 'to touch'. Over time, the term evolved to signify a more aggressive action, reflecting a shift from a neutral to a more hostile connotation in English usage.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Attack"?

Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Attack"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Attack" Synonym Map