assassin

American  

[uh-sas-in] / əˈsæs ɪn /

noun

1. a murderer, especially one who kills a politically prominent person for fanatical or monetary reasons.

2. (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

1. a member of a secret sect of Muslim fanatics operating in Persia and Syria from about 1090 to 1256, murdering their victims, usually Crusaders

---

assassin ² British  

/ əˈsæsɪn /

noun

1. a murderer, esp one who kills a prominent political figure

---

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.

Example Sentences

But it isn’t a terrorist or an assassin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Senior presidential adviser Stephen Miller called Pretti a "would-be assassin".

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

Hence, he survived much longer than he should have by convincing his prey, including Zac Efron’s wide-eyed brother Dylan, that he’d be too obvious an assassin.

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026

Credits at the end of “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” attribute the creation of the Bride assassin to “Q & U” — stark-white capital letters that stand in for Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

Back at Ford’s Theatre, the manhunt for Booth almost ended before it began when one man, an army major, rose from his front-row seat to pursue the assassin.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson