attempt

1. 1.

   make an effort or attempt

   “He tried to shake off his fears”

   “The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps”

   “The police attempted to stop the thief”

   “He sought to improve himself”

   “She always seeks to do good in the world”

   Synonymstryseekessayassay

   Broaderact

   Narrowertake a darefighthave a gogropeendeavorgive it a whirlgamblerisk
2. 2.

   enter upon an activity or enterprise

   Synonymsundertakeset about

   Broaderinitiate

Other forms of attempt

plural

attempts·

past tense

attempted·

present participle

attempting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about attempt

What does attempt mean?

attempt means "earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in attempt?

attempt has 2 syllables: at-tempt. The stress falls on "tempt". In IPA it is /əˈtɛmpt/.

What is another word for attempt?

Close synonyms include effort, endeavor, endeavour, try, attack. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is attempt a common word?

attempt is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with attempt?

2 words rhyme with attempt. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.