Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

Thesaurus

murder

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of murder

1 a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
  • This weather is murder on my sinuses.
Synonyms of murder

agony, Gehenna, hell, horror, misery, nightmare, torment, torture
Words Related to murder

affliction, calvary, cross, curse, ordeal, trial, tribulation

calamity, misfortune, tragedy

gall, thorn

bummer, downer, drag
Near Antonyms of murder

delight, diversion, entertainment, fun, joy, pleasure, recreation

lark, picnic, riot
Antonyms of murder

heaven, paradise
2 the intentional and unlawful taking of another person's life
  • arrested for attempting to commit murder
Synonyms of murder

blood, foul play, homicide, slaying
Words Related to murder

killing, manslaughter

bloodshed, butchery, carnage, decimation, destruction, massacre, slaughter

assassination, execution, hit

euthanasia, mercy killing

filicide, fratricide, matricide, parricide, patricide, regicide, uxoricide

murder

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of murder

1 to put to death deliberately
  • Those people made me so mad I felt like I wanted to murder them.
Synonyms of murder

assassinate, bump off, croak [slang], dispatch, do in, execute, get, liquidate, rub out, slay, terminate
Words Related to murder

blow away, shoot, shoot down

blot out, carry off, claim, cut down, destroy, fell, kill, smite, zap

butcher, massacre, mow (down), slaughter

annihilate, eliminate, eradicate, exterminate, wipe out
Phrases Synonymous with murder

do away with
Near Antonyms of murder

animate, raise, restore, resurrect, resuscitate, revive
2 to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
  • We listened in horror as she murdered our favorite song on stage.
Synonyms of murder

blow, bobble, boggle, bollix (up), boot, botch, bumble, bungle, butcher, dub, flub, fluff, foozle, foul up, fumble, goof (up), louse up, mangle, mess (up), muck up, muff, screw up
Words Related to murder

blunder, gum (up), muddle, piffle

blemish, blight, damage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, mutilate, ruin, spoil, vitiate

destroy, wreck

mishandle, mismanage
Near Antonyms of murder

ameliorate, better, enhance, help, improve, meliorate, rectify, refine, reform, remedy

doctor, fix, patch, recondition, renovate, repair, revamp

Synonym Discussion of murder

kill, slay, murder, assassinate, dispatch, execute mean to deprive of life. kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner.
    • killed in an accident
    • frost killed the plants
slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive.
    • slew thousands of the Philistines
murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility.
    • convicted of murdering a rival
assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives.
    • terrorists assassinated the Senator
dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death.
    • dispatched the sentry with one bullet
execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty.
    • executed by lethal gas

Learn More about murder

  1. See words that rhyme with murder Dictionary: Definition of murder Spanish Central: Translation of murder Nglish: Translation of murder for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of murder for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about murder

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up murder? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games