murderer

American  

[mur-der-er] / ˈmɜr dər ər /

noun

• murderers
  plural

1. a person who commits murder.

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idioms

1. murderers' row,

   1. the row of cells in a prison where murderers and other violent or hard-core criminals are held.

   2. Baseball. a succession of heavy hitters scheduled to bat one after the other.

   3. any group of notorious or important people.

      a murderers' row of talent;

      a murderers' row of philosophers.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-murderer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• murderers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of murderer

1300–50; Middle English mortherer, mord ( e ) rer; see murder, -er ¹

Explanation

If you’re looking for a roommate and someone writes murderer under “occupation,” you should definitely keep looking. A murderer is a person who kills deliberately and without justification. In some instances, killing a person is considered a just or valid action — in a war, a soldier who kills another soldier is not considered to be a murderer, and people who kill in self-defense, to save themselves, are also not murderers. Killing out of anger or for money or revenge is murder, and anyone who does it is a murderer. Charles Manson is in jail for being a murderer. The Old English root of murderer is morðor, "unlawful killing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

murderer murderers

Nicolas Winding Refn directs this inscrutable yet mesmerizing thriller that follows the converging stories of an actress, an American G.I., and a mysterious murderer called the Leather Man.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

At night, Elle shrugs on her father’s heavy black coat and slips into a reverie about a myth in which a grief-stricken murderer called the Leather Man searches for his lost daughter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Four centuries later, a Maltese minister leases a villa once used by a different murderer on the run and says he does not know who that murderer is.

From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026

With the help of the flock, Lily eventually weeds out George’s murderer among the colorful townspeople, but not before “The Sheep Detectives” lands a couple of remarkable gut punches.

From Salon ● May 25, 2026

But their attitude had changed since they had found out that Harry had a dangerous murderer for a godfather — for Harry had conveniently forgotten to tell them that Sirius was innocent.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Still, she imposed what Norman Podhoretz called an “inordinate demand”: that Jews under Hitler be braver and nobler than ordinary people could be expected to be when murderers held all the power.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Either way, reluctance to associate either Salinger or his most indelible creation with crazed murderers meant keeping their own wounds at arms’ length.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

Kelly Newman, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the sentencing: "Those who seek to help murderers evade justice should be in no doubt that they too will be held accountable for their actions."

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

California’s elderly parole program does not automatically exclude murderers or sex offenders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026

It is our thesis that the psychopathology of such murderers forms at least one specific syndrome which we shall describe.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Related Words

• assassin
• executioner