executioner
Americannoun
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executioners
plural
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an official who inflicts capital punishment in pursuance of a legal warrant.
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a person who executes an act, will, judgment, etc.
noun
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an official charged with carrying out the death sentence passed upon a condemned person
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an assassin, esp one appointed by a political or criminal organization
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of executioner
Explanation
An executioner is a government official who kills people sentenced to death. Executioners kill legally. There are many people who kill, such as murderers, soldiers, and hunters. Another is the executioner, whose job is to kill. If a king or legal system has decided that someone will be put to death, it's the executioner's job to kill them. Over time, executioners have used hanging, beheading, lethal injections, the electric chair, and many other ways of executing (killing). Without a doubt, being an executioner is one of the grimmest jobs in the world.
Vocabulary lists containing executioner
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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"Imagine the Angels of Bread," Vocabulary from the poem
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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 initiator caspase switches on, but the pathway then stalls before the executioner caspases can complete the destruction of the cell.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
But she added that Panahi, "who wrote this script in prison in Iran, who went on hunger strike," has highlighted "space... for reconciliation with his executioner."
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
Sir Thomas More on the scaffold of Tower Hill comforted his executioner and was reported by a witness to have repositioned his beard on the block, joking it had committed no treason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
He says that the articles were untrue and that The Guardian "played the role of judge, jury and executioner" of his career and reputation.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member, and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
The government does not publish how many people are on death row, though human rights groups say there are more than 1,000 and that Vietnam is one of the world’s biggest executioners.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2024
She’s won recognition abroad for her work, including her activism against the death penalty in Iran, which remains one of the world’s top executioners.
From Washington Times ● May 3, 2023
Pharmaceutical companies increasingly have barred executioners from using their drugs, saying they were meant to save lives.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 25, 2023
“There is no place in the world for executioners, punishers and Nazis,” he said.
From Washington Post ● May 9, 2022
In truth, Ned did not trust the mute knight, though perhaps that was only because he misliked executioners.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
