assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsa-sᵊn 

plural assassins

1

: a person who commits murder

especially : one who murders a politically prominent person either for money or from fanatical adherence to a cause

… the location of the victim's gunshot wounds … might point to a professional assassin.

—Wendy Fry

2

Assassin plural Assassins, history : a person belonging to a Shia Muslim sect during the time of the Crusades whose members were notorious for murdering prominent enemies

For a third of a century, no enemy of the Assassins had ever managed to elude them.

—Amin Maalouf

Synonyms of assassin

• murderer
• killer

Examples of assassin in a Sentence

John Wilkes Booth was the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

shot down by an unknown assassin

Recent Examples on the Web

Up until then, slashers were silent assassins or a breather. —Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Nov. 2025

Well, that, and the small matter of a conspiracy involving the Ministry of Defense, a neighboring assassin, and a young girl who may or may not be dead. —Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025

Mistaken for the world’s deadliest assassin, Ben becomes the perfect decoy for Eden. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025

In the special, Harry (Jane Seymour) and Fergus (Rohan Nedd) are attending the wedding of Vicky (Danielle Ryan) and Corman (Muiris Crowley), when an assassin strikes. —Yamillah Hurtado, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin assassinus, from Arabic ḥashshāshīn, plural of ḥashshāsh worthless person, literally, hashish user, from hashīsh hashish

First Known Use

circa 1520, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing assassin

• assassin bug

Rhymes for assassin

• unfasten
• bason
• casson
• fasten
• cytochalasin
• diapason

Kids Definition

assassin

noun

as·​sas·​sin ə-ˈsas-ən 

: a person who kills another person

especially : one who murders a politically important person either for pay or from loyalty to a cause