assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsa-sᵊn 

1

: a person who commits murder

especially : one who murders a politically important person either for money or from fanatical adherence to a cause

2

Assassin : a member of a Shia Muslim sect who at the time of the Crusades was sent out on a suicidal mission to murder prominent enemies

Synonyms

• cutthroat
• homicide
• killer
• manslayer
• murderer

Examples of assassin in a Sentence

John Wilkes Booth was the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

shot down by an unknown assassin

Recent Examples on the Web

Harris' lead is driven by older women voters and women independents. Nov. 3: Trump escalates violent rhetoric, suggesting at a Pennsylvania rally that an assassin would have to shoot through the news media to hit him. —Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024

And during this year’s election, the FBI foiled a plot by Iran to pay an assassin $1 million to kill Donald Trump. —Brian Bennett, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024

The series is based on the classic 1971 novel of the same name about the assassin who finds his match in a determined British intelligence officer hunting him down. —Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

The first would-be assassin died at the scene when a Secret Service agent who was positioned as a sniper shot him in the seconds after the shooter hit Trump. —Jenny Goldsberry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin assassinus, from Arabic ḥashshāshīn, plural of ḥashshāsh worthless person, literally, hashish user, from hashīsh hashish

First Known Use

circa 1520, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing assassin

• assassin bug

Kids Definition

assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsas-ən 

: a person who kills another person

especially : one who murders a politically important person either for pay or from loyalty to a cause