assassinate
[verb]
Synonyms: murder, eliminate (slang), hit (slang), kill, liquidate, slay, take out (slang)

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English Thesaurus: assault, mugging, murder, homicide, rape, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

as‧sas‧sin‧ate /əˈsæsəneɪt, əˈsæsɪneɪt $ -səneɪt/ verb [transitive]
to murder an important person:
a plot to assassinate the President

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

assassinate
verb
VERB + ASSASSINATE attempt to, try to | plan to, plot to He was executed in 1887 for plotting to assassinate the tsar.
PHRASES an attempt/a plot to assassinate sb

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

assassinate
verb
BAD: He was charged with assassinating a taxi-driver.
GOOD: He was charged with murdering a taxi-driver.

Usage Note:
Choosing the right word: GENERAL WORDS and EXACT WORDS
Some words have a general meaning, e.g. big, beautiful, good, say, make, kill . These words are useful, especially when you begin to learn English, because you can make use of them in a wide range of situations:
A big meal, a big kitchen, a big mistake etc
For each general word, however, there is usually another word or phrase which comes closer to what you want to say, and which may also sound more natural in the context:
A substantial meal, a spacious kitchen, a serious mistake etc
A major step towards fluency in English is getting to know plenty of exact words which can replace the more general words you have learned. Here are some words which can be used instead of the general word kill .
Murder To murder someone is to kill them deliberately and unlawfully: ‘The key witness was murdered before he could testify.’ A person who does this is a murderer .
Massacre Massacre is used when you talk about the deliberate killing of a large number of people, especially people who cannot defend themselves: ‘Whole native populations were massacred when the European settles arrived.’
Slaughter Slaughter is used when you talk about the deliberate killing of a large number of people, especially in a particularly cruel way: ‘Men ran through the village burning houses and slaughtering anyone that got in their way.’
To slaughter an animal is to kill it for its meat, skin etc, or as part of a religious ceremony: ‘The children couldn’t understand why the cattle had to be slaughtered.’
Execute To execute someone (or put someone to death is to kill someone as a punishment, according to the law: ‘King Charles I was executed on 30th January 1639.’
Assassinate To assassinate someone is to deliberately kill a very famous or important person such as a political leader: ‘President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.’ A person who does this is an assassin .
Commit suicide To commit suicide (or take your own life ) is to deliberately kill yourself: ‘Rather than be taken prisoner, they preferred to commit suicide.’
Destroy To destroy an animal (or have it put down/to sleep ) is to kill in a way that does not cause pain, especially because it is sick or injured: ‘The cat had developed cancer and had to be destroyed.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

assault noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of physically attacking someone:
He was arrested for an assault on a policeman.
mugging noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of attacking and robbing someone in a public place:
Muggings usually happen at night.
murder noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of deliberately killing someone:
He is accused of the murder of five women.
homicide noun [uncountable and countable] especially American English law murder:
Homicide rates are rising fastest amongst 15 to19-year-olds.
rape noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of forcing someone to have sex:
In most cases of rape, the victim knows her attacker.
kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
He was killed by rival gang members.
commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
St. George slew the dragon.
The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
execute formal (also put somebody to death) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

kill to make someone die:
The driver and his passenger were killed in the crash.
He was killed by rival gang members.
murder to deliberately kill someone – used when talking about this as a crime:
He was convicted of murdering his wife.
commit manslaughter to kill someone without intending to – used when talking about this as a crime:
The court ruled that the guard had committed manslaughter.
assassinate to deliberately kill an important person, especially a politician:
He was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.
slay to kill someone or something in a violent way – used in newspaper reports and also in old stories:
Two teenagers were slain in the shootings.
St. George slew the dragon.
The king was slain at the battle of Hastings.
execute formal (also put somebody to death) to kill someone as a punishment for a crime:
McVeigh, who killed 168 people in a bombing attack, was executed by lethal injection.
eliminate to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
take somebody out informal to kill someone in order to get rid of them, especially an enemy or someone who is causing trouble for you:
US forces used air strikes to take out the enemy positions.
One of the other drug dealers may have decided to take him out.
bump somebody off humorous informal to kill someone:
He was so irritating I felt like bumping him off myself.
do away with somebody informal to kill someone:
The settlers in Jamestown had been done away with, but no one knew how.
commit suicide to kill yourself:
He committed suicide after the death of his girlfriend.
take your own life formal to kill yourself:
He had taken his own life while he was severely depressed.
They believe that it is a sin to take your own life.
massacre to kill a large number of people in a violent way:
Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were massacred by the soldiers.
slaughter to kill a large number of people in a violent way. Slaughter is also used about killing animals for food:
The army slaughtered thousands of civilians in an effort to stop the revolt.
The pigs were slaughtered on the farm.
exterminate to kill large numbers of a particular group, so that they no longer exist:
Hitler’s goal was to exterminate the Jews.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲