assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsa-sᵊn 

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

Synonyms

• 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

Or Florian Geyer, a noble who also led peasant armies and was finally knifed by an assassin. —Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025

Kimmel also praised Kirk’s widow, Erika, for speaking at Sunday’s memorial service about forgiving her husband’s assassin. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025

Trump narrowly escaped an assassin’s bullet at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July 2024. —Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 24 Sep. 2025

Oh plays Eve, a deskbound MI-5 agent who longs to be a spy in the field, a dream that is soon realized when a mutual obsession develops between her and a sadistic, sociopathic assassin (Jodie Comer) who always evades capture. —Vulture Editors, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025

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

• unfasten
• 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