as in murderers
a person who kills another person
shot down by an unknown assassin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 assassins
Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Running Man is a dystopian sci-fi movie about a reality TV show where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins.
—
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
In the first season of action thriller A Shop For Killers, Kim Hye-jun starred as Jeong Ji-an, a college student who must fight off a bevy of highly skilled assassins while trying to get to the bottom of her uncle’s death.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 14 Jan. 2026
The internet has the ability to create assassins and sway elections and destroy families, to waste our time and wreck our life.
—Gideon Leek, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
When a father seeking vengeance, an American operative experiencing a string of bad luck, and several independent assassins hailing from around the world all end up on the same bullet train bound for Kyoto, the results are violent — and the survivors minimal.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
The situation gets more complex with the addition of a bunch of oddball assassins trying to murder the neighbor, plus other mysterious and shady types like his former associate Laverne (Weaver).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Some bowlers are just smiling assassins.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
Frölich recalled that Frick had pleaded in the Reichstag for amnesty to be given to Ernst Werner Techow, who had been involved in Rathenau’s murder, and had demanded impunity for the Erzberger assassins, Schulz and Tillessen.
—Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
But this particular scenario, in which an outsider queen turns workers into her proxy assassins, has never been described in detail before, researchers reported Monday in the journal Current Biology.
—CNN Money, 17 Nov. 2025
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
In the first season of action thriller A Shop For Killers, Kim Hye-jun starred as Jeong Ji-an, a college student who must fight off a bevy of highly skilled assassins while trying to get to the bottom of her uncle’s death.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 14 Jan. 2026
The internet has the ability to create assassins and sway elections and destroy families, to waste our time and wreck our life.
—Gideon Leek, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
When a father seeking vengeance, an American operative experiencing a string of bad luck, and several independent assassins hailing from around the world all end up on the same bullet train bound for Kyoto, the results are violent — and the survivors minimal.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
The situation gets more complex with the addition of a bunch of oddball assassins trying to murder the neighbor, plus other mysterious and shady types like his former associate Laverne (Weaver).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Some bowlers are just smiling assassins.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
Frölich recalled that Frick had pleaded in the Reichstag for amnesty to be given to Ernst Werner Techow, who had been involved in Rathenau’s murder, and had demanded impunity for the Erzberger assassins, Schulz and Tillessen.
—Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
But this particular scenario, in which an outsider queen turns workers into her proxy assassins, has never been described in detail before, researchers reported Monday in the journal Current Biology.
—CNN Money, 17 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for assassins
Noun
-
Federal agents are currently roaming cities under the ruse of going after murderers and rapists but are instead pulling anyone who doesn't fit their idea of what an American looks like out of cars, homes and schools using thuggish methods.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists.—
Courtney Kube,
NBC news,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
This year, when healthy, Desharnais has been a physical force and one of the Sharks’ top penalty killers.—
Curtis Pashelka,
Mercury News,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Black women don’t tend to be serial killers.—
Yohana Desta,
Rolling Stone,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Assassins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assassins. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
