assassinate

verb

as·​sas·​si·​nate ə-ˈsa-sə-ˌnāt 

assassinated; assassinating

transitive verb

1

: to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons

a plot to assassinate the governor

2

: to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously

assassinate a man's character

assassinator

ə-ˈsa-sə-ˌnā-tər 

noun

Synonyms

• murder
• slay
• execute
• kill

Choose the Right Synonym for assassinate

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

Examples of assassinate in a Sentence

They discovered a secret plot to assassinate the governor.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Recent Examples on the Web

On Friday, exactly one month after Kirk was assassinated, Robinson requested permission to wear civilian clothes in court and to appear without shackles and cuffs. —Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2025

That was followed by a shiny-happy coda, a significant time jump, and then the launch of a brand-new case involving a plot to assassinate the governor of California and/or POTUS. —Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 10 Oct. 2025

The passage takes its name from Emperor Commodus, the ruthless leader who governed from 177 to 192 CE and was nearly assassinated in the underground walkway. —Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025

Images also emerged showing the Israeli representative on the hostage issue, the retired general Nitzan Alon, smiling and shaking hands with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Thani, just weeks after Israel attempted to assassinate top Hamas officials on Qatari soil. —Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see assassin

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for assassinate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

assassinate

verb

as·​sas·​si·​nate ə-ˈsas-ᵊn-ˌāt 

assassinated; assassinating

: to murder a usually important person by a surprise or secret attack

assassination

ə-ˌsas-ᵊn-ˈā-shən 

noun