assassin
noun
a murderer, especially one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons.
assassin
American
[uh-sas-in]
/ əˈsæs ɪn /
noun
-
assassins
plural
-
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.
Assassin
1
British
/ əˈsæsɪn /
noun
assassin
2
British
/ əˈsæsɪn /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of assassin
1525–35; < Medieval Latin assassinī (plural) < Arabic ḥashshāshīn eaters of hashish
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing assassin
Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Workshop 4, Part 1
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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:
One such role was Fuches, a mentor to Bill Hader’s assassin in HBO’s “Barry,” which earned Root his first Emmy nomination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The big reveal in the opening of the film—which rivals a James Bond pre-credit sequence in longevity, action and skiing through the Alps—is that the ruthless assassin ruining everyone’s Austrian vacation is a woman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Lady Thatcher and her assassin are "the entrance point" to that issue, he says.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The shooting on Saturday, which Trump blamed on a "would-be assassin," also caused him to riff on one of his favorite topics -- the huge $400 million ballroom he is building at the White House.
From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026
“I heard him talking to Cain,” said a timid voice behind them, and they found Pelor, the youngest assassin, standing nearby.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
If you trace in this event the origins of a similar scene in Alias Grace and also one in The Blind Assassin, you would be right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
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
The Assassin didn’t take her eyes off the girl.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
"This awoke not just Michoacan, but all of Mexico," she told AFP while surrounded by bodyguards to keep would-be assassins at bay.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
When asked why assassins keep targeting him, he answered, “I studied assassinations,” and suggested that “the people that make the biggest impact,” such as Abraham Lincoln, tend to be the targets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
I don’t want to go too deep into the plot, which involves a supersonic weapon, stolen software, assassins on motorcycles and a common ticking-clock device, but it’s closer to “Moonraker,” say, than “Slow Horses.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
And, when that power comes on and pulls Scotland this way and that, enter the French assassins behind the scrum - all clever angles and deception, outrageous vision and ruthless execution.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2025
About a hundred yards from Booth’s camp, Jones dismounted, walked slowly, and whistled the secret signal as he came within earshot of the assassins.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
