Phrase guide

murder hornet

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Synonym of Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) ^((See discussion))

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • 2020, "Deadly Hornet Massacres a Mouse on Video, They're Huge", TMZ It's unclear if this is, in fact, a murder hornet
  • 2020, "The murder hornet is the 2020 B-plot you probably didn’t see coming", Kim Lyons, The Verge Some days the news is upbeat and interesting and then other days the writers of the script for 2020: The Horror Show throw in a murder hornet plot twist because a pandemic is apparently not terrifying enough without two-inch hornets that rip the heads off of honeybees.
  • 2020, "Murder Hornets Are In Canada Because 2020 Just Keeps On Going", Sima Shakeri, Huffington Post The New York Times reported about the hornets on Saturday that shared graphic details of the piles of honeybee corpses left behind after murder hornets infiltrated their hives.
  • 2020, " "Murder hornets" have now entered the U.S. — and they could decimate the honeybee population ", Li Cohen, CBS News But murder hornets become most dangerous from late summer to early fall, when they ravage through honey bee populations.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Asian giant hornet

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of Japanese 殺人スズメバチ (literally “murder hornet”), from 殺人 (satsujin, “さつじん”)+スズメバチ (suzumebachi, “雀蜂”), equivalent to murder + hornet. From its ability to kill people through its painful venomous stings, which can pierce through most regular beekeeper suits, killing some dozens of people a year in Japan; and its propensity for killing off honeybee colonies.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: tappajaherhiläinen — colloquial terms for Asian giant hornet
  • Japanese: 殺人スズメバチ — colloquial terms for Asian giant hornet