murderer

murderer — noun

1. a person whom a court has found guilty of taking the life of another person on p

1.nounB2
Definition

a person whom a court has found guilty of taking the life of another person on purpose and without any legal right to do so

Example

The police arrested Lakan after finding evidence that he was the murderer.

arrest + murderer: police-news pattern

Jisoo's family waited years for the murderer of their daughter to face trial.

murderer of [victim]: specific victim pattern

Common collocations
  • convicted murderer
  • suspected murderer
  • alleged murderer
  • mass murderer
  • serial murderer
  • murderer of [victim name]
  • murderer escaped
  • murderer sentenced
  • hunt for a murderer
Synonyms
  • killer

    broader term — includes those who kill by accident, in self-defence, or in war; not necessarily illegal or intentional

  • assassin

    a murderer who kills a well-known person for political reasons or payment; more specific and dramatic

  • slayer

    very formal or literary term; carries an archaic or epic tone, not used in everyday speech

  • hitman

    informal term for a murderer paid to kill someone, usually by a criminal organisation

Grammar Patterns

a/the murderer

murderer of [person killed]

convicted/alleged/suspected murderer

Usage Note

In formal legal contexts, the term is typically used only after a person has been found guilty in court; before conviction, terms such as 'suspect' or 'the accused' are preferred. In news reporting, however, 'murderer' is often used more broadly for someone believed to have committed murder.

Common Mistakes

The driver who accidentally ran over the pedestrian is a murderer.
The driver who accidentally ran over the pedestrian killed someone but is not a murderer.
a murderer acts on purpose; accidental killing is not murder.
The soldier killed an enemy soldier, so he is a murderer.
Killing in war is not usually called murder, so the soldier is not a murderer in legal terms.
murder refers to unlawful killing; killings in war are judged by different rules.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While all four words describe someone who kills, a murderer is specifically a person who ends another's life intentionally and without legal justification — the key element is unlawfulness. A killer is a much broader term: it covers everyone from a murderer to someone who kills in self-defence, by accident, or in war. An assassin kills a specific target, usually a public figure, for political reasons or payment, and the killing is typically planned in advance. A slayer is mostly confined to formal, literary, or mythical contexts (dragon slayer, vampire slayer) and sounds archaic in everyday conversation. A hitman is an informal, almost casual term for a professional killer hired by criminals. For example, newspapers call someone a murderer after a conviction, but a killer when the circumstances are unclear. If the target is a politician, they might use assassin; if the killing was ordered by a crime boss, they might say hitman.

killer ↗assassinslayerhitman

Common collocations

Nouns

  • convicted murderer
  • alleged murderer
  • suspected murderer
  • serial murderer
  • mass murderer
  • accused murderer

Adverbs

  • wrongly convicted as a murderer
  • suspected of being a murderer

Phrases

  • hunt for a murderer
  • track down a murderer
  • turned himself in as a murderer
  • confessed to being a murderer

Prepositions

  • murderer of
  • trial of a murderer
  • conviction of a murderer

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchMedieval LatinEnglish

The word 'murderer' comes from Old English 'morþor', which meant a secret or unlawful killing. The ending '-er' was added to show that the word refers to a person who does the action. Later, French and Latin forms ('murdre' from Old French, 'murdrum' from medieval Latin) influenced the spelling and pronunciation. The modern spelling with a 'd' instead of 'þ' (the Old English 'thorn' letter) came from French influence.