1
: a person who commits murder
especially
: one who murders a politically important person either for money or from fanatical adherence to a cause
2
Assassin
: a member of a Shia Muslim sect who at the time of the Crusades was sent out on a suicidal mission to murder prominent enemies
Examples of assassin in a Sentence
John Wilkes Booth was the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
shot down by an unknown assassin
Recent Examples on the Web
King Shrewd secretly trains young Fitz as an assassin, harnessing his ancestral magic.
—
Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 25 May 2025
Those were the final words uttered by Emperor Uriel Septum—played by none other than Star Trek's Patrick Stewart—before an assassin leaped out of the shadows to cut him down.
—PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
The organized crime syndicates also have ties to the Mexican mafia and, in one instance, hired an assassin from the Sureño gang, who shot two people in a murder-for-hire plot, killing one of them.
—Matt Finn, FOXNews.com, 21 May 2025
His all-or-nothing strategy of wildcat provocations that often sacrifice his pawns increasingly conflicts with Andor’s desire for stability, and with the requirements of the Rebellion’s growing ranks, who are in need of hierarchy and management—bureaucrats, not assassins.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for assassin
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Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 25 May 2025
Those were the final words uttered by Emperor Uriel Septum—played by none other than Star Trek's Patrick Stewart—before an assassin leaped out of the shadows to cut him down.
—PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
The organized crime syndicates also have ties to the Mexican mafia and, in one instance, hired an assassin from the Sureño gang, who shot two people in a murder-for-hire plot, killing one of them.
—Matt Finn, FOXNews.com, 21 May 2025
His all-or-nothing strategy of wildcat provocations that often sacrifice his pawns increasingly conflicts with Andor’s desire for stability, and with the requirements of the Rebellion’s growing ranks, who are in need of hierarchy and management—bureaucrats, not assassins.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for assassin
Cite this Entry
“Assassin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassin. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
assassin
noun
as·sas·sin
ə-ˈsas-ən 
: a person who kills another person
especially
: one who murders a politically important person either for pay or from loyalty to a cause
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