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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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:
Are you a silent assassin, a strategic mastermind or an agent of chaos?
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
He's the "aerial assassin" who's widely seen as the best pro wrestler of the last decade, but Will Ospreay is keen to point out that it's not come from him.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
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
He died decades later at what’s now St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the same institution that would later house would-be Ronald Reagan assassin John Hinckley, Jr.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
She placed it on the table beside the assassin and rested a hand on the armchair.
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
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
A back-to-back loss on the big stage, however, could spell retirement for 'The Silent Assassin'.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2023
Assassin bugs, which belong to an insect family called Reduviidae, date at least as far back as the Jurassic.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2021
He didn’t know how she caught them without cutting herself; it must have been an Assassin thing.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
He was on the march "to demonstrate against the assassins of humanity", he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
Menus are hammered out course by course, with ingredients screened to avoid poisoning—not just by would-be assassins but also regular old food poisoning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
A nod of appreciation to those assassins who don't make it - Ballon d'Or-winner Andriy Shevchenko was close, Christian Vieri's highlights and world-record transfer fee came last century.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 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
Disobeying her mother, Fanny prowled from room to room, searching for hidden 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.
