Meaning & use
assassinate
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To kill an important person, such as a leader, usually for political reasons or a cause.
Grammar: Takes a person as object: they assassinated the governor; often used in the passive: he was assassinated.
Patterns
- assassinate someone
- be assassinated by someone
Rebels plotted to assassinate the president during his visit.
The prime minister was assassinated outside her office in 1984.
Several leaders were assassinated during the unrest.
verbtransitivefigurative
To destroy someone's good name or reputation by spreading lies or unfair attacks.
Grammar: Takes an object, often character or reputation: they assassinated her character.
Patterns
- assassinate someone's character
- assassinate someone's reputation
The tabloids tried to assassinate the actor's character with false stories.
Rivals attempted to assassinate her reputation before the election.
He felt that the report assassinated his good name.
Word forms
| third person singular | assassinates |
|---|---|
| past tense | assassinated |
| past participle | assassinated |
| -ing form | assassinating |
Common combinations
- plot to assassinate
- Police uncovered a plot to assassinate the mayor.
- attempt to assassinate
- He survived an attempt to assassinate him.
- assassinate a leader
- The group planned to assassinate a foreign leader.
- assassinate someone's character
- The campaign tried to assassinate his character.
- be assassinated
- The king was assassinated in the city square.
Synonyms and how they differ
- murder
- Murder is the general word for unlawfully killing anyone, while assassinate is for prominent people and political motives.
- kill
- Kill is neutral and covers any death caused by someone, including by accident.
- slay
- Slay is literary and dramatic and does not suggest a political target.
- eliminate
- Eliminate is a cold, euphemistic word for killing someone as an obstacle, and it does not suggest the target is famous.
Opposites
Word family
- assassin noun
- a person who kills an important figure
- assassination noun
- the act of killing an important person
Commonly confused: assassinate or murder? assassinate or execute?
assassinate vs murder
Murder can be of anyone, but assassinate is normally limited to important figures.
assassinate vs execute
Execute means killing by legal order, while assassinate is unlawful and secret.
Practice
Police uncovered a secret plan to ___ the prime minister at the opening ceremony.
Choose one answer.
Assassinate means to kill an important political figure, which fits a secret plan against a prime minister. Assess, associate and assemble are similar in sound but have unrelated meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assassinate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.