murderer

American

[mur-der-er] / ˈmɜr dər ər /

noun

a person who commits murder.

idioms

murderers' row,
1. the row of cells in a prison where murderers and other violent or hard-core criminals are held.
2. Baseball. a succession of heavy hitters scheduled to bat one after the other.
3. any group of notorious or important people.
  
  a murderers' row of talent;
  a murderers' row of philosophers.

Other Word Forms

self-murderer noun

Etymology

Origin of murderer

1300–50; Middle English mortherer, mord ( e ) rer; murder, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There is a possible motive for the police to try to frame Benguit - their failure to stop a suspected murderer from killing again.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

The book does advance one theory of who the murderer is.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

"I am not a saint but I am not a murderer either," Kocner said in 2020 in a statement in court.

From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026

Critics question how supporters could throw themselves behind an accused murderer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

It would take years for many Hitler Youth to digest the truth about National Socialism: They had served a mass murderer and, in so doing, had contributed to the deaths of millions of people.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023