assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsa-sᵊn 

plural assassins

1

: a person who commits murder

especially : one who murders a politically prominent person either for money or from fanatical adherence to a cause

… the location of the victim's gunshot wounds … might point to a professional assassin.

—Wendy Fry

2

Assassin plural Assassins, history : a person belonging to a Shia Muslim sect during the time of the Crusades whose members were notorious for murdering prominent enemies

For a third of a century, no enemy of the Assassins had ever managed to elude them.

—Amin Maalouf

Synonyms of assassin

• murderer
• killer

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

By the time Cameron came up with the idea for The Terminator — about a robot assassin sent back in time to kill the mother of humanity’s unborn savior — Wisher was growing more interested in screenwriting. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2026

Their characters — a notorious assassin and a lawyer — race across Europe, balancing brutal fights and a messy, decades-long friendship. — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

Judith claims to be a forensic accountant, but is actually a career assassin whose very name sends shivers of fear through her enemies and ones of excitement through her admirers. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026

Julie has returned her old ways as an assassin, whilst navigating an equally perilous dating scene, while Edward’s honeymoon with Kayla (Shalom Brune-Franklin) doesn’t go quite as planned. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 6 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin assassinus, from Arabic ḥashshāshīn, plural of ḥashshāsh worthless person, literally, hashish user, from hashīsh hashish

First Known Use

circa 1520, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing assassin

• assassin bug

Rhymes for assassin

• bason
• casson
• fasten
• cytochalasin
• diapason

Kids 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