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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September Words
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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:
The suspect accused of attacking Saturday's media gala was charged in court Monday with trying to assassinate the president.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
The Washington Hilton, where John Hinckley Jr attempted to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan 45 years ago, said it followed security instructions from the Secret Service.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
The Church Committee recommended, and Congress subsequently enacted, dozens of sweeping reforms to foreign intelligence collection activities, as well as restraints on future efforts by the U.S. government to assassinate people.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2026
For decades, Cuban intelligence agents were Cold War stars, dismantling plots to assassinate Fidel Castro, recruiting senior U.S. government officials and protecting heads of state from Angola to Panama.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
Then Gale says, “Katniss, we all knew you were lying about Coin sending you to assassinate Snow.”
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
I think of you always; Jack also; I have told him so much, he assassinates himself with desire to see you all.
From Fernley House by Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze) Barry
Fear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition is a dagger with which hypocrisy assassinates the soul.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 1 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Robert Green Ingersoll
With his pen, as Cellini with his dagger, he assassinates; his cynicism serves him for a coat of armour.
From Renaissance in Italy Volume 3 The Fine Arts by John Addington Symonds
It assassinates the peace of families, it cuts away honor from the family name, it lets out the vital spark of life, and is followed by inconsolable death.
From Fifteen Years in Hell by Luther Benson
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
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
Black clergy in the city, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, are redoubling their efforts to mobilize voters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
Marx was largely unknown outside of Colorado’s evangelical community before Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
Seyffardt was a Dutch general who commanded a Waffen-SS unit of volunteers on the eastern front before he was assassinated by resistance fighters in 1943.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
The spirit of her husband, the assassinated president, appears with his hands resting on her shoulders.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The man accused of assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has apologised to the ex-leader's family for the first time.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
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
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.
