Standard Lemma guide

assassinate

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /əˈsæsɪneɪt/
  • General-American: /əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 S AE1 S AH0 N EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Assassination, murder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Examples

  • Mor. Why? if I had made an assassinate upon your Father; vitiated your Mother: ravished your Sisters― Tru. I would kill you, Sir, I would kill you, if you had. Mor. Why? you do more in this, Sir: it were a vengeance centuple, for all facinorous Acts, that could be nam'd, to do that you do.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An assassin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: erase, hit, murder, annihilate, bag, baptize, bereave of life, blight, bring down, bump off, bury, cack, compromised to a permanent end, croak, crush, dash, deactivate, dead, demolish, destroy, dispatch, dispose of, do, do in, dust, eliminate, end, eradicate, ex, exterminate, finish, finish off, flatten, grease, knock off, lay waste to, make away with, merc, mortify, neutralize, obliterate, off, pay off, pick off, polish off, pop off, punch someone's ticket, put an end to, put down, put someone out of their misery, put six feet under, put to sleep, ravage, rub out, ruin, scotch, scupper, scuttle, send to eternity, send to hell, send to the grave, send to the great beyond, send to the next life, shut up, slay, slaughter, slime out, smash, smite, snuff, squash, stiff, stop someone's clock, take, terminate, terminate with extreme prejudice, top off, top, torpedo, take care of, take down, take out, waste, wax, wet, whack, wipe out, wreck

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To harm, ruin, or defame severely or destroy by treachery, slander, libel, or obscure attack.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • He assassinated his rival's character.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: besmirch, denigrate, traduce, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel, besmear, bewray, blacken, blame, blaze, blemish, blot, blur, calumniate, calumny, chat shit, chat shite, cloud, defame, demonize, deprave, depreciate, detract, dirty, discredit, disgrace, disparage, disrepute, diss, drag through the mud, forgab, forspeak, foul, infamize, lampoon, libel, malign, monsterize, muddy, reproach, revile, scandal, shit-talk, slag, slander, smear, smirch, spatter, spot, speak ill of, stab, stain, sully, talk shit, talk shite, talk trash, tarnish, torch, trash-talk, unflatter, vilify, vilipend, villainize, wrong

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • He assassinated his enemy's character

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch

6

verb

Meaning 6

murder; especially of socially prominent persons

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Anwar Sadat was assassinated because many people did not like his peace politics with Israel

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: kill

History

Etymology

From assassin + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

From assassin + -ate, after Middle French assassiner.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: vermoor — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Arabic: اِغْتَالَ (iḡtāla) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Armenian: սպանել (spanel) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Belarusian: забіва́ць (zabivácʹ) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Belarusian: забі́ць (zabícʹ) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Bulgarian: убивам (ubivam) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Bulgarian: умъртвявам (umǎrtvjavam) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Catalan: assassinar — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Chinese Mandarin: 刺殺 /刺杀 (cìshā) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Chinese Mandarin: 暗殺 /暗杀 (ànshā) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Czech: zavraždit — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Danish: myrde — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Danish: snigmyrde — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Dutch: vermoorden — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Esperanto: murdi — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Estonian: mõrvama — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Finnish: murhata — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • French: assassiner — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • German: ermorden — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • German: liquidieren — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • German: meucheln — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • German: Meuchelmord begehen — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Greek: εκτελώ (ekteló) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Hebrew: התנקש (hitnakésh) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Ido: asasinar — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Irish: feallmharaigh — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Italian: assassinare — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Japanese: 暗殺する (ansatsu-suru) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Korean: 암살(暗殺)하다 (amsalhada) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Latin: necō — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Latin: per īnsidiās interficiō — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Latin: assassīnō — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Occitan: assassinar — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Portuguese: assassinar — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Romanian: asasina — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Russian: убива́ть (ubivátʹ) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Russian: уби́ть (ubítʹ) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Serbo-Croatian: сма̀кнути — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Serbo-Croatian: smàknuti — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Sotho: bolaya — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Spanish: asesinar — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Swedish: lönnmörda — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Tagalog: linguhin — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Thai: ลอบสังหาร (lɔ̂ɔp-sǎng-hǎan) — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Thai: ลอบฆ่า — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Turkish: öldürmek — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Vietnamese: ám sát — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
  • Welsh: bradlofruddio — to murder by sudden or obscure attack
Real reading context

assassinate in complete knowledge articles