murderer

American  

[mur-der-er] / ˈmɜr dər ər /

noun

• murderers
  plural

1. a person who commits murder.

---

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

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

She said the family were "forced out" of their rented home as neighbours refused to live near an accused murderer, and that their children were ostracised and isolated.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

I suppose he misses Dorcas, and thinks about how he is her murderer.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Convicted murderers and prisoners on orders for lifelong restriction would be excluded from the changes.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

He wrote a court opinion in 2005 ending executions for murderers who were under age 18 at the time of their crime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Outside the United Nations, around 200 demonstrators denounced Iran's deadly protest crackdown, holding placards reading: "No negotiations with murderers".

From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026

Man-eaters among animals are as rare as murderers among men, and Richard Parker was caught while still a cub.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

• assassin
• executioner