executioner

[ek-si-kyoo-shuh-ner]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR executioner ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an official who inflicts capital punishment in pursuance of a legal warrant.

a person who executes an act, will, judgment, etc.

Origin of executioner

First recorded in 1555–65; execution + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for executioner

killer, garroter, strangler, lyncher

Examples from the Web for executioner

Contemporary Examples of executioner

I Am An Executioner offers a fiercely creative—and deeply morbid—vision of what it takes to stay alive.
Must Read Fiction: ‘Prague Fatale,’ ‘Derby Day’ and More
Malcolm Forbes, Hillary Kelly, Mythili Rao
May 9, 2012

Historical Examples of executioner

Executioner of thy country, read the decree of thy punishment!
Zanoni
Edward Bulwer Lytton
“Oh, by a new method, which I have invented myself,” declared the Executioner.
Dick, Marjorie and Fidge
G. E. Farrow
St. Bartholomew and the Executioner with the knife to fulfil the martyr.
A Tramp Abroad, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Lafemas looked at the Governor, and the Governor at the Executioner, and so round.
Richelieu, v. 2/3
G. P. R. James
For what's the object of being an Executioner if one can't execute?
John Dough and the Cherub
L. Frank Baum

British Dictionary definitions for executioner

executioner

noun

an official charged with carrying out the death sentence passed upon a condemned person

an assassin, esp one appointed by a political or criminal organization

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for executioner

"headsman," 1560s; "one who carries into effect," 1590s; agent noun from execution.