Assassinated means that someone was killed, typically for political or ideological reasons, by a targeted act. The term emphasizes premeditation and intent, often involving a planned killing rather than an accident. In formal and historical contexts, it denotes the removal of a public figure or leader through murder.
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"The president was assassinated during the campaign."
"Investigators documented how the journalist was assassinated in a crowded market."
"The revolutionaries plotted to assassinate the dictator to shift the balance of power."
"Many articles discuss how security measures failed after the celebrity was assassinated."
Assassinated derives from the noun assassin, which entered English from the French assassins, ultimately tracing to the Arabic word hashshashin (hashish-eaters), a medieval sect reputed to carry out political killings. The assassin's role shifted from a generic killer to a targeted political actor in Europe during the Crusades and Renaissance. The -ed suffix was added to form the past participle and past tense in English, producing assassinated to describe the act of having been killed by an assassin. Over time, the word narrowed in usage to emphasize deliberate, premeditated killing, often of prominent figures, in political or ideological contexts. First known use in English appears in the late 16th or early 17th century with the concept of assassination appearing in 17th-century texts, while assassinated as a verb form becomes common in modern historical writing and journalism to denote that the act was carried out by an assassin. The word has since become a standard, though sensitive, term in political discourse and news reporting. Its historical baggage reflects the perceived intentionality and public impact of the act.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "assassinated" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "assassinated" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "assassinated"
-ted sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Pronounce as ə- sas- ə- neɪ- tɪd, with primary stress on the NEI syllable (sæ-sə-NAY-tid). Start with the schwa in the first syllable, then a crisp /s/ cluster /ˈsæs/ in the second, followed by an unstressed /ə/ and the strong /neɪ/ in the fourth, then a final /tɪd/. IPA: US: əˌsæsəˈneɪtɪd. Your mouth: lips neutral, tongue relaxed for /ə/; for /s/ keep teeth barely apart; for /neɪ/ raise the tongue to a mid-high position, with a long vowel.
Common errors include flattening the /æ/ to a general /æ/ or /ə/ in the second syllable, over-simplifying the /ˈneɪ/ to /ne/ or /naɪ/, and running the ending /tɪd/ as /tɪd/ with weak internal /t/. Correct by enforcing three cues: keep /sæ/ crisp, ensure /ˈneɪ/ has a clear diphthong, and release the final /d/ softly after /ɪd/; don’t truncate the /t/ before /ɪd/. Use slow practice to align the thirds and flip to normal tempo after accuracy.
In US and UK, the primary stress remains on the /neɪ/ segment, but UK vowels can be slightly shorter and more clipped; US tends toward a more rhotic, pronounced /r/ absence here since /neɪtɪd/ lacks /r/. Australian English keeps a similar rhythm but can have a more centralized /ə/ in the first syllable and a broader /æ/ in /sæs/. Overall, accents converge on /əˌsæsəˈneɪtɪd/ with minor vowel length differences.
It blends multiple difficult features: a nasal-alveolar /s/ cluster at the start, an unstressed /ə/ plus a strong /neɪ/ diphthong in the third syllable, and a final /tɪd/ that can devoice or reduce in rapid speech. The sequence /sæsə/ can trip non-native speakers; rhythm requires holding stress on the fourth syllable while keeping the preceding syllables crisp. Practicing with minimal pairs helps isolate the /æ/ vs /ə/ differences and the /neɪ/ diphthong.
A unique point is the transition around the /neɪ/ diphthong in the fourth syllable: the 'neɪ' should be a clear, strong diphthong rather than a schwa plus 'n'. The 'tɪd' ending often reduces to a quicker /tɪd/ in careful speech but appears as a stronger, lighter /t/ before /ɪd/ in careful enunciation. Emphasize the syllable boundary: as-sa-sa-NĀ-ted, with the primary stress on 'nā'.
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