slay

Synonym Chooser

How is the word slay distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of slay are assassinate, dispatch, execute, kill, and murder. While all these words mean "to deprive of life," slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive.

slew thousands of the Philistines

Where would assassinate be a reasonable alternative to slay?

The words assassinate and slay can be used in similar contexts, but assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives.

terrorists assassinated the Senator

In what contexts can dispatch take the place of slay?

Although the words dispatch and slay have much in common, dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death.

dispatched the sentry with one bullet

When can execute be used instead of slay?

The words execute and slay are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty.

executed by lethal gas

When might kill be a better fit than slay?

The synonyms kill and slay are sometimes interchangeable, but kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner.

killed in an accident
frost killed the plants

When is it sensible to use murder instead of slay?

While in some cases nearly identical to slay, murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility.

convicted of murdering a rival

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 slay The upcoming game tasks you with slaying massive, corrupted beasts in this distant future. Gabriel Zamora, PC Magazine, 9 June 2025 More than a quarter of their community of 400 was slain or taken as hostages to Gaza. Philissa Cramer, Sun Sentinel, 5 June 2025 At least six nuclear scientists, along with an unspecified number of civilians, including women and children, were also said to have been slain. Tom O'Connor Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 June 2025 Their purpose was to slay dragons, so Watkins carried that lore into his designs. Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 14 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for slay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slay
Verb
  • One Cambodian soldier was killed in a relatively small, contested area.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 June 2025
  • Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday said that another 88 people have been killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, raising the war’s toll among Palestinians to 56,500.
    Tia Goldenberg, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2025
Verb
  • Israeli intelligence also probed the possibility of assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but President Donald Trump reportedly called off a hit on the Iranian supreme leader.
    Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 28 June 2025
  • The daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of corruption, misusing public funds, and threatening to assassinate former ally and current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
    Cecilia Hult, Fortune, 28 June 2025
Verb
  • In September 2024, the same month as the pager attack and assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Israel launched the most extensive campaign of airstrikes in the air force’s history hitherto, destroying much of Hezbollah’s strategic surface-to-surface missile stockpiles.
    Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • As rumors swirl and her life collapses, Eva faces a choice: protect herself or expose Amir’s secret and risk destroying him.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • Set in a fantasy version of early 1900s Japan, the series focuses on the adventures Tanjiro Kamado, an ordinary boy whose peaceful life in the mountains is disrupted when demons murder his family.
    Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 28 June 2025
  • Harp, who is raising his orphaned niece, Dell, after her mother is murdered, never reminisces with Dell about his sister; the Antidote and Cleo both do their best not to have meaningful conversations with anyone at all.
    Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • Despite various avenues of communication and the increasingly digital process of creating denim, a gap persists between designers and the people executing their designs.
    Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 1 July 2025
  • The Treaty was executed by both the colonies and Great Britain, as well as by the other countries that had participated in the conflict.
    Michael Peregrine, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Slay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slay. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

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