assassination

noun

as·sas·si·na·tion ə-ˌsa-sə-ˈnā-shən

plural assassinations

: murder by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons : the act or an instance of assassinating someone (such as a prominent political leader)

the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

an assassination attempt

In medieval days, assassination by poisoning was common enough to alarm many a king, and protection was sought in the form of prayers, food tasters and science.—

The New York Times

: treacherous destruction of a person's reputation

character assassination

Examples of assassination in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Listen, man, the RFK assassination was childhood’s end for me. —

Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024 Experts say the attack is the biggest of its kind on Iranian targets since then-US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, in Baghdad in 2020. —

Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024 President Woodrow Wilson ordered the U.S. Marines to invade Haiti after the assassination of its president in 1915, citing concern about political unrest in the region. —

Char Adams, NBC News, 28 Mar. 2024 The assassination set off a power struggle between Henry and Claude Joseph, who had been serving as acting prime minister. —

Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024 Adult cartoons played a surprisingly significant role behind the scenes on the set of Manhunt, which follows the search for John Wilkes Booth in the wake of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. —

Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 16 Mar. 2024 They were brought together when their native village was destroyed by shogunate spies, and torn apart again in the tutorial level during an assassination mission gone awry. —

Katcy Stephan, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024 So Booth didn’t just commit the assassination of Lincoln. —

Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024 The tragic assassination of his close friend, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, occurred minutes after Willie Brown had left his office. —

James Richardson, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assassination.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.