Search

to state with assurance, confidence, or force; state strongly or positively; affirm; aver:
He asserted his innocence of the crime.
to maintain or defend (claims, rights, etc.).
to state as having existence; affirm; postulate:
to assert a first cause as necessary.
assert oneself, to insist on one’s rights, declare one’s views forcefully, etc.:
The candidate finally asserted himself about property taxes.
Contemporary Examples

Does her character continue to find her independence and assert herself in their marriage this season?
Polygamy’s Back Jace Lacob January 6, 2010

Pope Francis used this story to assert that, like that first Francis, Christians have on too many clothes.
Pope Francis’s Injunction to Get Back to Basics May Help American Christianity Joshua DuBois October 5, 2013

The Bush administration once went so far as to assert that the Iraq War would pay for itself!
What War Costs the Right Conor Friedersdorf September 27, 2009

Even Romney fans admit the hurricane presents a great opportunity for the president to assert command.
How President Obama Will Handle Hurricane Sandy James Warren October 28, 2012

The airlines like to assert that airfares are lower than they were in years past.
Those Awful Airline Fees From United, American, Delta, and the Rest Add Up William J. McGee August 12, 2012

Historical Examples

We may therefore venture to assert that neither of these plays was acted earlier than 1593.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare’s Plays Thomas Keightley

It was an insult to the divine powers to assert that they had taken the part of a race horse.
Thoroughbreds W. A. Fraser

My two guests would tell me nothing, except to assert that they knew nothing of their followers, or why they began shooting.
Ranching, Sport and Travel Thomas Carson

All admit or assert that the lance is in this warfare the better weapon.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force Sir Winston S. Churchill

They set England at the center of the stage, and talk of her ambition to assert her economic dominion throughout the world.
President Wilson’s Addresses Woodrow Wilson

verb (transitive)
to insist upon (rights, claims, etc)
(may take a clause as object) to state to be true; declare categorically
to put (oneself) forward in an insistent manner
v.

c.1600, “declare,” from Latin assertus, past participle of asserere “claim, maintain, affirm” (see assertion). Related: Asserted; asserting. To assert oneself “stand up for one’s rights” is recorded from 1879.