Synonyms

murderer

American

[mur-der-er] / ˈmɜr dər ər /

noun

a person who commits murder.

idioms

murderers' row,
1. the row of cells in a prison where murderers and other violent or hard-core criminals are held.
2. Baseball. a succession of heavy hitters scheduled to bat one after the other.
3. any group of notorious or important people.
  
  a murderers' row of talent;
  a murderers' row of philosophers.

Other Word Forms

self-murderer noun

Etymology

Origin of murderer

1300–50; Middle English mortherer, mord ( e ) rer; murder, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The book does advance one theory of who the murderer is.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

Dupie, a convicted murderer, is in a relationship with a niece of opposition leader Sandra Torres, a former first lady who has fought and lost the last three presidential elections.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

The tag was also, incidentally, a play on “The Blue Dahlia,” a 1946 movie written by Raymond Chandler and starring Veronica Lake as a plucky drifter who helps the hero track down his wife’s murderer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

On the last day of filming, he told her that she had met the film's murderer, and invited her to guess who it was.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025

Room Service brings you cold soup, and just before Steve’s mother’s murderer is revealed, Dad turns it off.

From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023