assassinate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person; murder premeditatedly and treacherously.
- Synonyms:
- slay
-
to destroy or harm treacherously and viciously.
to assassinate a person's character.
verb
-
to murder (a person, esp a public or political figure), usually by a surprise attack
-
to ruin or harm (a person's reputation, etc) by slander
Other Word Forms
- assassination noun
- assassinative adjective
- assassinator noun
- unassassinated adjective
Etymology
Origin of assassinate
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.
The name is enshrined in statute as a memorial to the assassinated President.
More somber is the 1964 scene in “Philadelphia,” of a row house door whose window displays a portrait of John F. Kennedy, assassinated just a year before.
The idea for a national performing arts centre began in the 1950s and after Kennedy, the 35th president, was assassinated in 1963, Congress passed a law to name it in his honour.
From BBC
“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.”
From Los Angeles Times
On Saturday, several protesters wore sombreros similar to the style of hat made famous by Carlos Manzo, a mayor in western Michoacan state who was assassinated on November 1.
From Barron's
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.
