assassination
nounUS, UK /əˌsæs.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
Etymology From assassinate + -ion.
1
The murder of a person, especially for political reasons or for personal gain.
- The assassination of the king occurred at night.
- But side by side with it was a baser conspiracy, among the more unprincipled and desperate friends of James, for the assassination of the King.1890, James Franck Bright, edited by Rivingtons, A History of England, →ISBN, page 853:
2 more examples
- Liu's agents pursued him and he escaped assassination only by throwing his clothing away by the Chʻien-tʻang River near Hangchow, thus suggesting suicide.1963, “Introduction”, in Wing-tsit Chan, transl., Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Yang-ming, Columbia University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page xxiv:
- (It's possible that at least some of the liberals who answered "yes, violence can sometimes be justified" had in mind edge cases like armed resistance by Jews against the SS, not the assassination of peaceful political pundits with whom they disagree.)2025 September 16, Jack Nicastro, “J.D. Vance Says 26 Percent of Young Liberals Justify Political Violence. Here's What the Data Really Say.”, in Reason, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2025:
- Derived terms
- assassination market, assassination marketplace, character assassination, counterassassination, royal assassination
- Related terms
- assassin, targeted killing