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

That assassin went on to seriously wound a colleague of Hortman and her husband and had a hit list of forty-four Democrats. —Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 19 Sep. 2025

Disney, the parent company of ABC, removed the late-night comedian from its airwaves after a conservative outcry over Kimmel’s remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassin culminated in public pressure from FCC Chair Brendan Carr. —Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 18 Sep. 2025

The suspect accused of ramming a car into a metal gate at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office quoted Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth during his confession, a special agent revealed in a criminal complaint. —Greg Norman, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Just a remarkable honorable man that was silenced by this assassin's bullet. —Dan Gooding gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 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