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
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
Mistaken for the world’s deadliest assassin, Ben becomes the perfect decoy for Eden.
—
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2025
Havoc brings the heat, throwing Tom Hardy's stony Walker into a hotbed of gangsters, dirty cops, corrupt elites, and wicked assassins.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Much more disturbing than the scenes of pint-size assassins wreaking havoc (or emerging bloody from a birth sack in the Grand Guignol climax) are the toxic emotions that inspired them.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Not content with just one buddy-cop-like relationship, The Accountant 2 also rekindles the bromance between Christian and his younger brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), a ruthless assassin who’s really just a lonely guy, honest!
—A.a. Dowd, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for assassin
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2025
Havoc brings the heat, throwing Tom Hardy's stony Walker into a hotbed of gangsters, dirty cops, corrupt elites, and wicked assassins.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Apr. 2025
Much more disturbing than the scenes of pint-size assassins wreaking havoc (or emerging bloody from a birth sack in the Grand Guignol climax) are the toxic emotions that inspired them.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Not content with just one buddy-cop-like relationship, The Accountant 2 also rekindles the bromance between Christian and his younger brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), a ruthless assassin who’s really just a lonely guy, honest!
—A.a. Dowd, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for assassin
Cite this Entry
“Assassin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassin. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share