MURDERING Synonyms: 198 Similar and Opposite Words

murdering 1 of 2

adjective

as in murderous

eager for or marked by the shedding of blood, extreme violence, or killing a vow to bring down the murdering fiend who had destroyed his family

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

murdering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of murder

as in assassinating

to put to death deliberately those people made me so mad I felt like I wanted to murder them

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fumbling

to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way we listened in horror as she murdered our favorite song on stage

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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 murdering

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 After he was accused of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman (charges of which he was acquitted), Tana told him not to come back to the restaurant. — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 7 July 2026 Rumors swirl that humanitarian aid groups are murdering people or withholding care. — Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 7 July 2026 It’s been over three decades since Wood was convicted of murdering six young women and girls and burying their bodies near El Paso – crimes for which he was nicknamed the Desert Killer. — Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 1 July 2026 Ciarre Campbell, brother of veteran NFL lineman Calais Campbell, has been charged with murdering their 71-year-old mother, Nateal, inside her Atlanta home. — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026 The book included details about the Lizzie Borden murder case, in which Borden was accused of murdering her family with an axe. — Saleen Martin, USA Today, 27 June 2026 Released in 2026 and based off of the author's 2023 thriller, the limited series stars Sam Worthington as a father wrongfully convicted for murdering his 3-year-old son. — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 27 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for murdering

Adjective

Like the switch suggests, The Vampire Lestat takes its inspiration from Rice’s 1985 novel of the same name, giving audiences their first taste of a show told entirely from the perspective of the dramatic, flashy, and murderous vampire Lestat.

— CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2026
His long white oval scleras and perfect-circle black pupils, sometimes open and sometimes closed, are always inexplicably expressive—managing to seem happy, sad, scared, sleepy, shifty, angry, eager, alarmed, mischievous, or murderous.

— Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 July 2026

Definition of murderous

Verb

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, 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

Definition of assassinating

Verb

With Yerry De los Santos also fumbling a bunt in the eighth, the Yanks tallied a season-high four errors on the night.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026
My first few hours with the EM11 NL were marked by overshooting links, fumbling through simple selections, and occasionally wondering why anyone would voluntarily use a vertical mouse.

— Sascha Brodsky, PC Magazine, 21 June 2026

Definition of fumbling

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

If caught in dense blowing dust, pull off the road, turn off your lights and keep your foot off the brake.

— CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 10 July 2026
The youngster then entered the westbound State Route 126 on-ramp before exiting again at Victoria Avenue while allegedly blowing through a stop sign.

— Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Definition of blowing

Verb

Murdaugh, once a powerful personal injury attorney in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, at the family’s hunting estate in June 2021.

— Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
Shiite and Sunni Muslims have been killing each other for centuries, and the status of women in some Muslims countries is deplorable.

— Kenneth Seeskin, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of killing

Verb

But the neighboring 171-feet Shelborne By Proper hotel says the new tower will cast a shadow over its pool, ruining the experience for guests at the luxury hotel.

— Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026
Water had seeped in everywhere on that floor, ruining the carpet, as well as other items.

— Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 4 July 2026

Definition of ruining

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

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murderesses

murdering

murderous

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“Murdering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/murdering. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of murdering

adjective

verb

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