Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb assassinate

2 senses of assassinate

Sense 1
assassinate -- (murder; especially of socially prominent persons; "Anwar Sadat was assassinated because many people did not like his peace politics with Israel")
       => kill -- (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays")

Sense 2
assassinate -- (destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation; "He assassinated his enemy's character")
       => defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch -- (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation")