How to say "assassination" in Japanese

• 暗殺あんさつJLPT N1approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verbThe common, default word for assassination: the killing of a prominent person, typically for political ends. Use it for the act itself in almost any context.
  そのヤクザ達たちは対立たいりつするヤクザの親分おやぶんを暗殺あんさつする計画けいかくの仲間なかまに彼かれを入いれた。↗

  The gangsters let him in on their plan to knock off a rival gang leader.
• 人斬りひときり
  nounLess common, and glossed as both 'assassination' and 'assassin': it can point to the killer rather than the act, and its image is of cutting a person down with a blade.
• 暗殺事件あんさつじけん
  nounRefers to an assassination as an incident or case — the event as reported or investigated — rather than to the act in the abstract.
  年配ねんぱいの人ひとはまだケネディー暗殺あんさつ事件じけんを覚おぼえている。↗

  Older people still remember the Kennedy assassination.
• アサシネイション
  nounA phonetic borrowing of the English word. It is less common than 暗殺, so this is seldom the word you want; reach for 暗殺 instead.
• 凶変きょうへん
  nounMeans a catastrophe or calamity first; 'assassination' is only one of its senses, viewing the killing as a disastrous event. Seldom the word you want for assassination itself.

Use 暗殺 for assassination in general; 暗殺事件 for the assassination as an incident; 「人斬り」 for the killer or a blade-wielding killing; 「アサシネイション」 is a less common loanword; 凶変 frames the killing as a calamity.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 暗殺あんさつassassination
• 人斬りひときりassassination
• 暗殺事件あんさつじけんassassination
• アサシネイションassassination
• 凶変きょうへんcatastrophe