executioner
Americannoun
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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:
"Amnesty International continues to consider China as the world's leading executioner," it said.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
My executioner, my best friend, my greatest champion — I’m talking about my mother, of course.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Although Pratt says being in this film hasn't changed what he thinks about AI, he's clear that trial by an AI judge, jury and executioner is not the way forward.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 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
As for Basta’s executioner, Meggie learned no more than what Fenoglio had already told her and what she remembered of the passage the Magpie had made her read.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
Executions in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s top executioners, have spiked after the coronavirus pandemic.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
Pharmaceutical companies increasingly have barred executioners from using their drugs, saying they were meant to save lives.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 25, 2023
But, nearly five years on, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world's most prolific executioners - despite a lull that coincided with Saudi Arabia's presidency of the G20 and the start of the Covid pandemic.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2023
But other promised reforms have faded out of view, including Mohammed’s vow to curtail the use of the death penalty in a country that has long been among the world’s leading executioners.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 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.
