assassinate
Americanverb (used with object)
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assassinates,
present (3rd person singular)
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assassinated,
past participle, past
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assassinating
present participle
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to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person; murder premeditatedly and treacherously.
- Synonyms:
- slay
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to destroy or harm treacherously and viciously.
to assassinate a person's character.
verb
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to murder (a person, esp a public or political figure), usually by a surprise attack
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to ruin or harm (a person's reputation, etc) by slander
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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assassinatesimple
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assassinatessimple
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have assassinatedperfect
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has assassinatedperfect
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am assassinatingprogressive
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are assassinatingprogressive
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is assassinatingprogressive
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have been assassinatingperfect progressive
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has been assassinatingperfect progressive
Past
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assassinatedsimple
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had assassinatedperfect
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was assassinatingprogressive
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were assassinatingprogressive
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had been assassinatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of assassinate
Explanation
To assassinate someone means to target and deliberately kill that person. The word assassinate is almost always used to describe the killing of a famous person. When a political leader or very well-known person is murdered, the killer is said to assassinate the victim. A killer might assassinate someone for political or ideological reasons, to gain fame for the act, or possibly for payment by someone else. You can assassinate figuratively, as well, by damaging a person's good name: "If you print that story, it will assassinate my reputation." The Arabic root of assassin is hashishiyyin, "hashish users."
Vocabulary lists containing assassinate
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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English Words Derived from Arabic
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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.
See Examples For:
Its savage truth explains Black folks’ deep compassion for British scholar Jason Arday, and the widespread anger over concerted efforts to assassinate his character before he was found dead.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
One North Korean commando, captured during a daring 1968 mission to assassinate the South Korean president in Seoul, recalls the confusion he felt when first encountering Christianity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
In 2025, replying to AFP's question, Putin said he did "not even wish to discuss" the idea Israel might assassinate Iran's Khamenei.
From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026
The HSCA’s link analysis about the Grapevine Tavern and its conclusion that the Ray family was deeply involved in the plan to assassinate King were never pursued by the Department of Justice.
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2025
He was convinced that if anyone tried to assassinate him, these two stocky morons would be powerless to prevent it, but he trusted that their presence would at least scare off spontaneous detraaors.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Taking the poker from Mr. Smith's nerveless grasp, with three vicious thrusts he assassinates the already moribund fire.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-03-31 by Various
Ladies and Gentlemen: Fear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition is a dagger with which hypocrisy assassinates the soul.
From Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I Including His Answers to the Clergy, His Oration at His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc. by Robert Green Ingersoll
Error endlessly assassinates itself in a futile effort to escape its immortality.
From Fantazius Mallare A Mysterious Oath by Wallace Smith
It may seem a trifle scratchy fer the moment, but it assassinates the blood-p'ison.
From The Conquest of Canaan by Booth Tarkington
"Hatred of lawlessness and the sort of meanness that assassinates and quarrels," was the quiet and surprising response.
From The Code of the Mountains by Charles Neville Buck
Kennedy, who was born after her father was assassinated, credits not only him but her whole family with inspiring her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The widow of assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk came face-to-face Monday with the man alleged to have killed him, during a court hearing in the western United States.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Marx was largely unknown outside of Colorado’s evangelical community before Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
Over the past year-and-a-half, Muscovites have woken to news that army generals in Moscow have been assassinated, and drones have been targeting the capital.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
The day before Jones learned from Union soldiers that Lincoln had been assassinated, and they had information that the assassins had traveled this way.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
When the parole board granted release for Sirhan Sirhan — the man convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy in downtown Los Angeles — Newsom overruled them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
The ANC reflected on the pain caused by Hani's assassination and said the release was a reminder of "the bullet that pierced through our hearts, assassinating a father and comrade".
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2024
A California review board on Wednesday denied parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian refugee serving a life sentence for assassinating U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
From Reuters ● Mar. 2, 2023
One of the pieces of information revealed was a psychological evaluation of Lee Harvey Oswald, who was arrested for assassinating John F. Kennedy.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2022
Their mission was to strike a blow against Austria and the Hapsburg monarchy by assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
