assassinate

[uh-sas-uh-neyt]

verb (used with object)

assassinated, assassinating 

1. to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person; murder premeditatedly and treacherously.

   Synonyms: slay

2. to destroy or harm treacherously and viciously.

   to assassinate a person's character.

assassinate

/ əˈsæsɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. to murder (a person, esp a public or political figure), usually by a surprise attack

2. to ruin or harm (a person's reputation, etc) by slander

Other Word Forms

• assassination noun
• assassinative adjective
• assassinator noun
• unassassinated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of assassinate¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; assassin + -ate ¹

Example Sentences

“But the thing that’s most egregious to me is the message it sends to these children who are in the school that was created in my father’s name, at the site where he was assassinated.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The assassinated mayor's widow, however, distanced her husband's movement from the demonstration on Saturday.

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The assassinated mayor's widow, however, distanced her husband's movement from the protests on Saturday.

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Naming his grandfather, who was assassinated in 1963, as his hero, Schlossberg told Vogue that JFK's administration was "a blueprint for how progressivism can work in America".

Read more on BBC

A security source told the agency she had been assassinated because she had been accused of filming jihadists "for the Malian army".

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Related Words

• execute 
• gun down www.thesaurus.com
• kill 
• slaughter 
• slay