1
as in killed
to deprive of life
millions have been slain worldwide by this dreadful disease
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in murdered
to put to death deliberately
vowed to slay without mercy whoever was responsible for murdering his family
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of slain
All of them were slain by ICE agents.
—
Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Pretti and Good were both slain by federal agents on the streets of the city.
—Cathy Applefeld Olson, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Under Marcos, efforts began to exhume those slain in the drug war and relitigate their crimes.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Back at the castle, where the only thing haunting them is the ghosts of slain reality stars, everybody huddles to try to figure out whether to go for Ron or Colton.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Still others evidently sought to find common political ground with AI renderings of Good alongside slain pro-Trump martyrs.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2026
Romy later learned that their photographer mother, 70, had also been slain.
—Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
Rob Reiner has been showered with accolades for his work in film and TV in the days since he and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found brutally slain in their Brentwood home.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 18 Dec. 2025
In Old Norse mythology, Baldr, the son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, was slain with a mistletoe spear.
—Matt Kasson, Popular Science, 17 Dec. 2025
Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Pretti and Good were both slain by federal agents on the streets of the city.
—Cathy Applefeld Olson, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Under Marcos, efforts began to exhume those slain in the drug war and relitigate their crimes.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Back at the castle, where the only thing haunting them is the ghosts of slain reality stars, everybody huddles to try to figure out whether to go for Ron or Colton.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Still others evidently sought to find common political ground with AI renderings of Good alongside slain pro-Trump martyrs.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2026
Romy later learned that their photographer mother, 70, had also been slain.
—Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
Rob Reiner has been showered with accolades for his work in film and TV in the days since he and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found brutally slain in their Brentwood home.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 18 Dec. 2025
In Old Norse mythology, Baldr, the son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, was slain with a mistletoe spear.
—Matt Kasson, Popular Science, 17 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slain
Verb
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Two days shy of the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that killed 67 people near the nation’s capital, the National Transportation Safety Board will meet to determine the probable cause of the midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
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The fire killed two people, destroyed 1,084 homes and businesses and did more than $2 billion in property damage.—
Judith Kohler,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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James Folta Talks to Bookseller Angela Schwesnedl Angela Schwesnedl from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis picked up my phone call on Saturday almost two hours to the minute after Alex Pretti was murdered in the street by ICE officers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Eger watched her parents taken away to the gas chambers where more than a million people, primarily of Jewish descent, were murdered.—
Linda Mcintosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Holy Innocents School posted on Facebook that the school’s church hall was broken into and destroyed.—
Summer Lin,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
The structure was destroyed during World War II and numerous frescoes were lost in raids, according to Jubilee 2025.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In September, Kirk was assassinated in front of three thousand students at Utah Valley University while debating a liberal audience member about gun control.—
Charles Duhigg,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
-
He was assassinated that night.—
Matt Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was once seen as the heir-apparent to his dictator father –– who was executed after his regime was toppled at the height of the Arab Spring protests in 2011 –– and had in recent years been making a play to return to politics in Libya.—
Nic Robertson,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
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Chicago has time to do this since the trade was executed on Saturday, but there’s a special art to doing this maneuver at the deadline.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slain. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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