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The word for today is…
assail (verb):
1: to attack violently : assault
2: to encounter, undertake, or confront energetically
3: to oppose, challenge, or criticize harshly and forcefully
4a: to trouble or afflict in a manner that threatens to overwhelm
b: to be perceived by (a person, a person’s senses, etc.) in a strongly noticeable and usually unpleasant way
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : 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 odour.”
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