assassinate

verb

as·​sas·​si·​nate ə-ˈsa-sə-ˌnāt 

assassinated; assassinating

transitive verb

1

: to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons

a plot to assassinate the governor

2

: to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously

assassinate a man's character

assassinator

ə-ˈsa-sə-ˌnā-tər 

noun

Synonyms

• bump off
• croak [slang]
• dispatch
• do in
• execute
• get
• ice [slang]
• knock off
• liquidate
• murder
• neutralize
• off [slang]
• put away
• rub out
• slay
• snuff
• take out
• terminate
• whack [slang]

Choose the Right Synonym for assassinate

kill, slay, murder, assassinate, dispatch, execute mean to deprive of life.

kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner.

killed in an accident

frost killed the plants

slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive.

slew thousands of the Philistines

murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility.

convicted of murdering a rival

assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives.

terrorists assassinated the Senator

dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death.

dispatched the sentry with one bullet

execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty.

executed by lethal gas

Examples of assassinate in a Sentence

They discovered a secret plot to assassinate the governor.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Recent Examples on the Web

Musawi was the Party’s second secretary-general, until he was assassinated by Israel, in 1992. —Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024

Last week, an Iranian asset was charged with attempting to assassinate President-elect Trump. —Andrea Margolis, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2024

Trump was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin at a rally in July and a man was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at his golf course in September. —Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 3 Nov. 2024

But in a minority opinion, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor feared the ruling would broadly shield Trump from abusing his authority in any number of ways, whether assassinating a rival or accepting bribes. —Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see assassin

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

assassinate

verb

as·​sas·​si·​nate ə-ˈsas-ᵊn-ˌāt 

assassinated; assassinating

: to murder a usually important person by a surprise or secret attack

assassination

ə-ˌsas-ᵊn-ˈā-shən 

noun