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

• cutthroat
• homicide
• killer
• manslayer
• murderer

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

New threats emerge, including a ruthless new villain (Bill Skarsgård) and a blind assassin from Wick’s past, played by Donnie Yen in a standout performance. —Emily Blackwood, People.com, 6 June 2025

The operation, made up of Belarusian contract killers, runs a ballet academy that is a front for their assassin training facility. —Shannon Carlin, Time, 6 June 2025

Keanu Reeves has played assassin John Wick in four mainline movies. —Jeremy Hanna, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025

Ably stepping in for Keanu’s John is another elite assassin trained by the Ruska Roma, Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), a character first glimpsed in John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 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