暗殺（あんさつ、ansatsu）
- assassination

The Japanese word 暗殺 (あんさつ, ansatsu) means "assassination." It refers to the act of deliberately killing a prominent person, usually for political reasons or to achieve a specific goal. This action is carried out secretly and often involves planning and execution. The person killed is usually a public figure, such as a politician, leader, or someone with significant influence.

⚫︎大統領の暗殺 Translation: The assassination of the president. ⚫︎彼は敵の暗殺を計画した。 Translation: He planned the assassination of the enemy. ⚫︎歴史の中で多くの指導者が暗殺された。 Translation: Many leaders have been assassinated in history.

暗殺 is a formal and serious word. It is used to describe the act of assassination itself. You would use this word when discussing or reporting on the killing of a significant figure, often in the context of news, history, politics, or espionage. You would not use it to describe the killing of an ordinary person in a casual conversation.

暗殺 is typically written in kanji as 暗殺. The reading is あんさつ in hiragana. There are no alternative kanji spellings or variations in okurigana for this word.

⚫︎ 殺害 (さつがい, satsugai) - murder (general term) ⚫︎ 暗殺事件 (あんさつじけん, ansatsu jiken) - assassination incident

There aren't direct antonyms, but you could consider actions that prevent or thwart an assassination attempt: ⚫︎ 警護 (けいご, keigo) - protection, guarding

その王の暗殺は、国の政治に大きな混乱をもたらした。 ・Translation: The assassination of the king brought great chaos to the country's politics. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the impact of an assassination on a nation's political situation.

情報機関は、暗殺計画を阻止するために動いた。 ・Translation: The intelligence agency moved to prevent the assassination plan. ・Explanation: This sentence discusses an attempt to foil an assassination.

The word 暗殺 is a compound word: ⚫︎ 暗 (あん, an) - meaning "dark," "secret," or "hidden." ⚫︎ 殺 (さつ, satsu) - meaning "killing" or "murder." Therefore, 暗殺 literally translates to "secret killing" or "hidden killing," reflecting the clandestine nature of the act.