a murderer, especially one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons.
(initial capital letter) one of an order of Muslim fanatics, active in Persia and Syria from about 1090 to 1272, whose chief object was to assassinate Crusaders.
1525–35; < Medieval Latin assassinī (plural) < Arabic ḥashshāshīn eaters of hashish
An assassin is someone who murders an important political or religious leader. Brutus is one of the most infamous assassins in history. He murdered Julius Caesar, who ruled Rome in the first century B.C. The word assassin, pronounced "uh-SASS-in," describes a person who murders a prominent person, like a political or religious leader. Often, this person is hired to kill, though he or she might act on personal motivations. To correctly spell assassin, remember that it has two double s's.
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Appeared in the April 27, 2026, print edition as 'A ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
And she has staged a number of plays at the National over the past 25 years, most recently Kerry Jackson and The Father and the Assassin, both last year.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2023
Its counterpart imperial stout, Vanilla Bean Assassin, is ranked No. 2, while another offering called Mornin’ Delight is ranked in the top 10.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2023
“An Assassin in Utopia” links President James Garfield’s killer to an atmosphere of free love and religious fervor that gripped Oneida, N.Y., in the late 1800s.
From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2023
And though Tanin wasn’t related to her by blood, the Assassin was family.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
