Meanings
plural onslaughts · alternative anslaight
- broadlyA large number of people or things resembling an attack.
They opened the doors and prepared for the onslaught of holiday shoppers.
1 more example
The inevitable Baggies onslaught followed as substitute Simon Cox saw his strike excellently parried by keeper Bunn, with Cox heading the rebound down into the ground and agonisingly over the bar.
2010 December 28, Kevin Darling, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA fierce attack.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
nounthe rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Dutchaenslag
- Englishonslaught
From on- + slaught. Formed after Middle Dutch aenslag, aenslach, equivalent to aen + slag, although slaught corresponds to Middle Dutch slacht; slag is cognate with the English weaving term sley. Compare Dutch aanslag and German Anschlag.
More words from Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὁρμή
- ὁρμή (hormḗ)fierce attack
Bulgarian я́ростна ата́ка
- я́ростна ата́ка (járostna atáka)fierce attack
Catalan envestida, atac
- envestidafierce attack
- atacfierce attack
Chinese Cantonese 猛攻
- 猛攻 (maang⁶ gung¹)fierce attack
Chinese Mandarin 猛攻
- 猛攻 (měnggōng)fierce attack
Czech úder, útok
- úderfierce attack
- útokfierce attack
- nájezdlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- invazelarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- náporlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- přívallarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Finnish hyökkäys, päällekarkaus
- hyökkäysfierce attack
- päällekarkausfierce attack
- rynnäkköfierce attack
- ryntäyslarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
French assaut, offensive
- assautfierce attack
- offensivefierce attack
- assautlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- invasionlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
German Angriff, Ansturm
- Angrifffierce attack
- Ansturmfierce attack
- Strumfierce attack
Greek ορμή
- ορμή (ormí)fierce attack
Hungarian támadás, roham
- támadásfierce attack
- rohamlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- ostromlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Italian assalto, invasione
- assaltofierce attack
- invasionelarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Latin ēruptiō
- ēruptiōfierce attack
Māori tukituki, ngaunga
- tukitukifierce attack
- ngaungafierce attack
Polish atak
- atakfierce attack
Portuguese assalto, investida
- assaltofierce attack
- investidafierce attack
- invasãolarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Romanian asalt, ofensivă
- asaltfierce attack
- ofensivăfierce attack
- atacfierce attack
- asaltlarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Russian на́тиск, наплы́в
- на́тиск (nátisk)fierce attack
- наплы́в (naplýv)large quantity of people or things resembling an attack
- на́тиск (nátisk)large quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Slovak útok
- útokfierce attack
Spanish embestida, ataque
- embestidafierce attack
- ataquefierce attack
- arremetidafierce attack
- acometidafierce attack
- avalanchalarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Swedish angrepp, våldsamt anfall
- angreppfierce attack
- våldsamt anfallfierce attack
- anstormninglarge quantity of people or things resembling an attack
Turkish taarruz, saldırı
- taarruzfierce attack
- saldırıfierce attack
Ukrainian на́тиск
- на́тиск (nátysk)fierce attack
Cite this entry
onslaught. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onslaught
“onslaught.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onslaught. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “onslaught,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onslaught.
Source: onslaught on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.