Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

character-assassinate

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English

Syllables: char-ac-ter-as-sas-si-nate
IPA

27

Scrabble Score

20

Letters

7

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To damage the reputation of (someone) by malicious discourse.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Michelle Phillips is a writer who character-assassinates herself—and occasionally others—in passing. Reading her view of herself in the rear-view mirror is like witnessing that most casual of car accidents, so common on the California freeways, the side swipe."
"“He was murdered twice.” First he was targeted (while en route to testify to a grand jury) by mob hit men and shot in that stairwell. Then he was character-assassinated as the Arizona real estate crime wave drew intense scrutiny."
"Anything more ambitious than an interesting collar is wasted on a video call, and, anyway, no one is looking at you, they’re too busy character-assassinating you based on the bookshelves behind you."

Etymology

Back-formation from character assassination.

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

character-assassinates (present, singular) character-assassinating (participle, present) character-assassinated (participle, past) character-assassinated (past) character assassinate (alternative)

Questions

What does character-assassinate mean?: To damage the reputation of (someone) by malicious discourse.
Where does character-assassinate come from?: Back-formation from character assassination.

How to pronounce character-assassinate

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