Wolves won't usually attack people.
Source: tatoeba (2465)
Attack
/əˈtæk/
Synonyms for "attack" (720 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (144)
Verb(20 words)
Noun(25 words)
abdominal epilepsyabuseacceptaccessacquired epilepsyactionactivated epilepsyactivationaffectaffect epilepsyaffectionaggressionaggressivenessagitateailmentakinetic epilepsyalgorithmall-out warambushamok
Show 79 more words
apoplexyappeal to armsapproacharmed combatarmed conflictarrangementarrestarticulationassailassailingassailmentassaultassumeattemptautonomic epilepsybarbarizebatterbatteringbattlebeginbeleaguerbellicositybelligerencebelligerencyberateberatingbesetbesiegebitter wordsblackeningblisterblitzblitzkriegblockadeblockagebloodshedblueprintblueprintingboutbreakthroughbrutalizebuckle downbuckle toburnbushwhackbutcherbutcherycalculationcardiac epilepsycarry oncastigatecensurechallengecharacter assassinationchargechartingchauvinismcitationclonic spasmclonuscombatcombativenesscomecome atcome down oncomplaintconceptioncondemncontrivancecontumelyconvulsioncorrodecorrosioncortical epilepsycounterattackcoursecrack down oncrampcriminate
Strong matches (216)
criticismcriticizecry out againstcry out oncry shame uponcursive epilepsydamndeclare wardecomposedecrialdecrydefamationdefydeliverydenigratedenigrationdenouncedenunciationdeprecatedeprecation
Show 155 more words
descenddescend ondescend upondescentdesigndestroydestructiondevicedevourdiatribediseasedisorderdisorderlinessdisparagedisparagementdispositiondissolvediurnal epilepsydive intodiversiondraw first blooddriveeateclampsiaembark inembark uponencompassendeavorengageengage inengage in battleenter onenter uponenterpriseenunciationenvisagementepilepsiaepilepsia graviorepilepsia majorepilepsia minorepilepsia mitiorepilepsia nutansepilepsia tardaepilepsyepitasiserodeerosionexcoriateexecrationfallfall intofall onfall tofall uponfalling sicknessfashionfayfeverfightfightingfiguringfitflayfocal epilepsyforayforcible seizureforesightforethoughtformfrenzyfurorfuryfustigategamegang up onget busyget crackingget goingget under wayget with itgogo aboutgo atgo forgo in forgo intogo ongo to itgo upongrand malgraphinggripground planguidelineguidelinesguisehammerharasshard wordsharryhaute malhave athithit like lightninghop to ithostilitieshot warhysterical epilepsyictusideaimpeachimplicateimplicationimpugnimpugnmentincriminateincriminationinculpateinculpationincursioninfectinfiltrationinroadintentioninvadeinvasioninvectiveinveigh againstinvestinvolveinvolvementirruptjacksonian epilepsyjawingjeremiadjingoismjumpjump to itkillingla guerrelacelambasteland onlarval epilepsylaryngeal epilepsylaryngospasmlashlatent epilepsylaunch forthlaunch intolay aboutlay about onelay atlay hands onlay into
Noun(25 words)
criticizedecryingdiscreditingdisputeenergy stored chemicallyepisodeepisodesexploitexploitsfangfirefirebombsflackflakflamesflamingflare-upforaysglassinghack
Show 5 more words
Verb(15 words)
Adjective(1 words)
Related words (360)
lay onlay wastelaying wastelayoutlevy war onlightlight intolineline of actionlineslineuplockjawlong-range planlootlootingmakemake war onmalignmannermanner of working
Show 246 more words
mappingmassacremaster planmatutinal epilepsymaulmeansmenstrual epilepsymethodmethodologymight of armsmilitarizationmilitary operationsmomobilizationmodemode of operationmode of proceduremodus operandimolestmove intomuckrakingmudslingingmugmuggingmurderous insanitymusicogenic epilepsymustermyoclonous epilepsynocturnal epilepsyobstreperousnessocclusionoffenseoffensiveonsetonslaughtopen hostilitiesopen waroperations researchopposeorderorganizationorgasmoutbreakoutburstoutrageoverkillparoxysmpeltpetit malphilippicphonationphysiologic epilepsypicturepilepillagepillagingpitchpitch inpitch intoplanplanningplanning functionplunge intopouncepounce uponpoundpracticeprearrangementpressprocedureproceedproceed toproceedingprocessprogramprogram of actionpronunciationpsychic epilepsypsychokinesiapsychomotor epilepsypugnacitypullpushrageraidrailramprampagerantraperatingrationalizationravereflectionreflex epilepsyreprimandresistresort to armsrevilerevilementriotriotingroarroastrolandic epilepsyrotatoriaroughroutinerubbishruinrun againstrun atrushsacksackingsail intosallysavagescarifyscathescheduleschemaschematismschematizationschemescheme of arrangementscorchscreedseizeseizuresensory epilepsyserial epilepsyset aboutset atset forwardset goingset onset toset to workset uponsetupsexual climaxshellshock tacticsshooting warsiegeskin aliveskirmishslamslanderslapslashslaughtersmearsnapsortiesow chaossowing with saltspasmspellsquare upstartstart instate of warstoppagestormstrategic planstrategystrikestrike atstrokestylesurpriseswoop down onswoop down uponsystemsystematizationtacktackletactical plantacticstake ontake the offensivetake uptardy epilepsyteartear aroundtechniqueterrorizetetanustetanythe big picturethe drillthe howthe picturethe swordthe way ofthroesthromboembolismthrombosistilttiradetonetongue lashingtongue-lashingtonic epilepsytonic spasmtorsion spasmtotal wartraumatic epilepsytrismustrounceturnturn onturn toucinate epilepsyundertakeunrulinessutterancevandalizeventureventure uponvilificationvilifyviolateviolationviolencevisitvisitationvituperatevituperationvocalizationvoicingwade intowarwarfarewarmakingwarmongeringwarringwartimewastewastingwaywiseworking planwreck
Verb(28 words)
Noun(63 words)
logjamlong thrust movementlungelungeslungingmaulingmobbingmortarsmuggingoffenceoffense definitionoffensiveoffensivesonrushonsetonsetsonslaughtsoutthrustpamphleteersparoxysms
Show 43 more words
pitchforkingplan of attackpluckinesspolemicspolemisepotshotpouncespouncingraidingraidsraptusriposteripostesruffsrushessalliessallyingsavagessavagingseizuressideswipeslamssmurfsortieingsortiesstabbingstormingstorming bastillestormsstrafesstrafingstrikestrikesswoopswoopingswoopstackletargettarget algorithmtear intothruststone-beginningtonguing
Adjective(3 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: aggress, assail, assault, onslaught, abdominal epilepsy.
- Sentence evidence is available for attack, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wiktionary, wordnet, opengloss, moby, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "attack".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "attack"
Keep "attack" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "attack" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "attack", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "attack" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
48 entriesShowing 16 of 48 words.
More specific
14 entriesCollocations
8 entriesattack planattack the problemcounterattacklaunch an attackmilitary attackpanic attackphysical attackverbal attack
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
4 entriesAntonyms
1 entriessimilar
2 entriesTranslations
139 translations across 85 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- aanval noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Albanian
1 entries- sulm noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Amharic
2 entries- መምታት noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ማጥቃት noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- προσβολή noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Arabic
2 entries- حَمْلَة noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- هُجُوم m هَجْمَة noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Armenian
1 entries- հարձակում noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Azerbaijani
2 entries- hücum noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- həmlə noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Bashkir
1 entries- һөжүм noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Basque
1 entries- eraso noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Belarusian
3 entries- напа́д noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- нападзе́нне noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- нападзе́ньне noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Bengali
2 entries- আক্রমণ noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- হামলা noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Breton
2 entries- argadenn noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- kerc'h noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Bulgarian
1 entries- нападе́ние noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Catalan
1 entries- atac noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 攻擊 /攻击 noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 攻擊 /攻击 noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Cornish
1 entries- omsettyans noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Czech
2 entries- napadení noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- útok noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Danish
1 entries- angreb noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Dutch
2 entries- aanslag noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- aanval noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Esperanto
2 entries- agreso noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- atako noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Estonian
1 entries- kallaletung noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Finnish
3 entries- hyökkäys noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- päällekarkaus noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- rynnäkkö noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
French
1 entries- attaque noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Galician
1 entries- ataque noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Georgian
3 entries- თავდასხმა noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- იერიში noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- შეტევა noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
German
2 entries- Angriff noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- Attacke noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Greek
1 entries- επίθεση noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Hebrew
1 entries- הַתְקָפָה noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Hindi
2 entries- आक्रमण noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- हमला noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Hungarian
1 entries- támadás noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Icelandic
1 entries- árás noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Ido
1 entries- atako noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Iranian Persian
3 entries- حَمْلِه noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- هُجوم noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- یورِش noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Irish
3 entries- aimsiú noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- amas noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ionsaí noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Italian
1 entries- attacco noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Japanese
1 entries- 攻撃 noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Kazakh
1 entries- шабуыл noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Korean
1 entries- 공격 noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Kyrgyz
4 entries- асылуу noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- атака кылуу noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- зыян noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- качыруу noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Latin
3 entries- aggressiō noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- impetus noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- impugnātiō noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Latvian
1 entries- uzbrukums noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Lithuanian
2 entries- ataka noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- puolimas noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Macedonian
1 entries- напад noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Malay
1 entries- serangan noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Malayalam
1 entries- ആക്രമണം noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Middle English
1 entries- enemyte noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Mongolian
1 entries- дайралт noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Nepali
2 entries- आक्रमण noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- हमला noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Ngazidja Comorian
1 entries- shamɓulio noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Norman
1 entries- attaque noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Northern Kurdish
1 entries- êrîş noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- angrep noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- angrep noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- åtak noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Occitan
1 entries- atac noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Odia
1 entries- ଆକ୍ରମଣ noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Old English
1 entries- onrǣs noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Pashto
2 entries- حمله noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- هجوم noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Polish
2 entries- atak noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- napad noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Portuguese
1 entries- ataque noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Romanian
1 entries- atac noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Russian
2 entries- ата́ка noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- нападе́ние noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- ionnsaigh noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- nápad noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- на́пад noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Slovak
2 entries- napadnutie noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- útok noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Slovene
1 entries- napad noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Spanish
1 entries- ataque noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Swahili
1 entries- mashambulizi noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Swedish
2 entries- anfall noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- attack noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Tajik
3 entries- юриш noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ҳамла noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ҳуҷум noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Tamil
1 entries- தாக்குதல் noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Tatar
1 entries- һөҗүм noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Telugu
1 entries- దాడి noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Thai
1 entries- การโจมตี noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Turkish
3 entries- hamle noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- hücum noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- saldırı noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Turkmen
1 entries- hüjüm noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Ukrainian
1 entries- на́пад noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Urdu
4 entries- آکْرَمَن noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- حَمْلَہ noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ہَجْمَہ noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ہُجُوم noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Uyghur
1 entries- ھۇجۇم noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Uzbek
2 entries- hamla noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- hujum noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Vietnamese
2 entries- sự công kích noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- sự tấn công noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Volapük
1 entries- tatak noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Welsh
2 entries- cyrch noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- ymosodiad noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Yiddish
2 entries- אַטאַק noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- אַטאַקע noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Zazaki
3 entries- gur (diq) noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- hamle noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
- hıcum noun (attempt to cause damage, injury, or death)
Sample sentences
33 total sentences available.
I had an angina attack.
Source: tatoeba (18956)
The reformers were subject to every attack from the Establishment.
Source: tatoeba (22273)
We prepared for an attack.
Source: tatoeba (22989)
Showing 4 of 33 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "attack"?
Closest matches include aggress, assail, assault, onslaught, abdominal epilepsy.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "attack"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.