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
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
Amin MaaloufExamples 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
One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.
—Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Duterte's threat in an online news conference in November 2024 to have the president, his wife and House of Representatives speaker killed by an assassin if she were killed amid their disputes was also cited in the one of the impeachment complaints.
—Jim Gomez The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Before his life was ended by an assassin’s bullet, Charlie Kirk was trying to save the conservative coalition from turning on itself.
—Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2026
Miller called him an assassin on social media; Vice President JD Vance reposted the message.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for assassin
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Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Duterte's threat in an online news conference in November 2024 to have the president, his wife and House of Representatives speaker killed by an assassin if she were killed amid their disputes was also cited in the one of the impeachment complaints.
—Jim Gomez The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 5 Feb. 2026
Before his life was ended by an assassin’s bullet, Charlie Kirk was trying to save the conservative coalition from turning on itself.
—Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2026
Miller called him an assassin on social media; Vice President JD Vance reposted the message.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for assassin
Cite this Entry
“Assassin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassin. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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
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