Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Murdered by surprise attack for political reasons: Describes a person, typically a public figure or leader, who has been killed deliberately and suddenly, often in a planned, secretive, or treacherous manner, with the motive usually related to their political role, beliefs, or influence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The nation mourned its assassinated president.
  • History books are filled with the names of assassinated emperors and revolutionaries.
  • The plot targeted several key, but not yet assassinated, officials.

Advanced Usage

• The term strongly implies a public, political, or historically significant context. It is not typically used for ordinary murders or killings without a political dimension.
• It can be used figuratively to describe the sudden and deliberate destruction of a thing's reputation or viability.
  • The scandal completely assassinated his character. (Here, "assassinated" is used as a verb in a metaphorical sense).

Variants and Related Words

• Assassinate (verb): To murder (a prominent person) by sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons.
  • The conspirators planned to assassinate the governor.
• Assassination (noun): The act of assassinating someone; a murder of this kind.
  • The assassination of the archduke triggered a world war.
• Assassin (noun): A person who commits an assassination.

Synonyms

• Murdered: Killed unlawfully and with premeditation. (More general; "assassinated" is a specific type of murder).
• Executed: Put to death, especially as a legal penalty. (Differs in that it implies a formal, often state-sanctioned process).
• Liquidated: Killed, especially in a political context. (Often implies removal by an organization or state).

Related Phrases

• Targeted for assassination: Marked as someone to be assassinated.
  • The journalist was targeted for assassination after publishing the report.
• An assassination attempt: An unsuccessful effort to assassinate someone.
  • The senator survived three separate assassination attempts.

Related Idioms

• Character assassination: The malicious and unjustified harming of a person's good reputation.
  • The campaign wasn't about policies; it was pure character assassination.

Adjective

1. murdered by surprise attack for political reasons
   • the 20th century has seen too many assassinated leaders