assassinating

verb

present participle of assassinate
as in murdering
to put to death deliberately President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of assassinating The 23-year-old man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University will be in court this week for the most substantial hearing so far in his murder case. — ABC News, 5 July 2026 Since the start of the war in 2022, Ukrainian military intelligence ‌has claimed responsibility ​for assassinating several senior Russian ‌officers, some of whom have ​appeared on a public list of Ukraine’s enemies. — Reuters, NBC news, 10 June 2026 Yes, assassinating their leaders might have played into that. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 25 May 2026 Mangione is accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. — Adam Sabes , Maria Paronich, FOXNews.com, 13 May 2026 Making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President #2. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 28 Apr. 2026 This comes on top of at least 15 years of US-Israel assassinating Iranian university scientists and their families. — Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026 Israel appears to have taken the lead on assassinating even low-level figures linked to Iran’s nuclear program while systematically degrading the knowledge centers that could prove useful in the future. — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2026 Prosecutors described Glean in a sentencing letter as a rival gang member who hunted Thompson, intent on assassinating him. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for assassinating
  1. murdering
  2. slaying
  3. executing
Verb
  • She was eventually charged with murdering nine people, including several of her tenants.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 7 July 2026
  • He was charged with murder with the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder for financial gain and murdering a witness.
    — Dennis Broad, NBC news, 7 July 2026
Definition of murdering
Verb
  • The new team, nicknamed the Vatreni (the blazers or the fiery ones), was considered a rank outsider, and few expected the masterful giant-slaying campaign that Croatia delivered.
    — Tushaar Kuthiala, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 June 2026
  • Kim — who faces murder charges in a 2016 killing in San Jose and a 2018 slaying in Westminster — was flown into Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, booked into the Anaheim city jail, turned over to the San Jose Police Department and then transported to Santa Clara County.
    — Sean Emery, Oc Register, 12 June 2026
Definition of slaying
Verb
  • Together, those technologies allow the robot to learn human movements through thousands of simulated training sessions before executing them in dynamic real-world environments.
    — Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • And Hamas has instead reasserted its power in parts of Gaza not occupied by Israel, recently executing a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel.
    — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Definition of executing

Browse Nearby Words

assassinates
assassinating
assassination
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Assassinating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assassinating. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on assassinating

Nglish: Translation of assassinating for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of xeric

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All