Assassination Meaning
/əˌsæs.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe murder of a person, especially for political reasons or for personal gain.
Sentence Examples
Assassination has never changed the history of the world.
Investigators uncovered an assassination plot.
The president survived a number of assassination attempts.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The shocking ____ of the leader plunged the country into chaos.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The plot for the political ____ was discovered by the secret police.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English assassin English -ate English assassinate Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ion English assassination From assassinate + -ion.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The shocking ____ of the leader plunged the country into chaos.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The plot for the political ____ was discovered by the secret police.