Meanings
nounhitman (plural hitmen)
plural hitmen · alternative hit man
- A male contract killer, especially one paid by a mafia.
Their top hitman, Joe Russo, was on the lam after murdering Joe Barboza in San Francisco.
2007, Howie Carr, The Brothers Bulger1 more example
The high priest of US arms controllers called me a "nuclear arms agreement hitman," which I took as a compliment.
2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, pages 172–173 - ball gamesA goalscorer; someone who scores goals.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna male professional killer who uses a gun
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From hit (“to murder”) + -man.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَاتِل مَأْجُور
- قَاتِل مَأْجُور (qātil maʔjūr)contract killer
Bulgarian нае́мен уби́ец
- нае́мен уби́ец (naémen ubíec)contract killer
Catalan sicari
- sicaricontract killer
Chinese Mandarin 殺手 /杀手, 合約殺手 /合约杀手
- 殺手 /杀手 (shāshǒu)contract killer
- 合約殺手 /合约杀手 (héyuē shāshǒu)contract killer
Czech nájemný vrah
- nájemný vrahcontract killer
Danish lejemorder, snigmorder
- lejemordercontract killer
- snigmordercontract killer
Dutch huurmoordenaar, huurdoder
- huurmoordenaarcontract killer
- huurdodercontract killer
Esperanto murdisto, sikario
- murdistocontract killer
- sikariocontract killer
Finnish palkkamurhaaja, ammattitappaja
- palkkamurhaajacontract killer
- ammattitappajacontract killer
French tueur à gages, sicaire
- tueur à gagescontract killer
- sicairecontract killer
German Auftragsmörder, Auftragsmörderin
- Auftragsmördercontract killer
- Auftragsmörderincontract killer
- Killercontract killer
- Killerincontract killer
Greek εκτελεστής
- εκτελεστής (ektelestís)contract killer
Hebrew רוצח שכיר
- רוצח שכיר (rotséakh sakhír)contract killer
Hungarian bérgyilkos
- bérgyilkoscontract killer
Icelandic leigumorðingi
- leigumorðingicontract killer
Italian sicario, killer
- sicariocontract killer
- killercontract killer
Japanese 殺し屋, ヒットマン
- 殺し屋 (koroshiya)contract killer
- ヒットマン (hittoman)contract killer
- キラー (kirā)contract killer
Korean 암살자
- 암살자 (amsalja)contract killer
Latin sīcārius
- sīcāriuscontract killer
Latvian slepkava
- slepkavacontract killer
Lithuanian samdomas žudikas
- samdomas žudikascontract killer
Norwegian Bokmål leiemorder
- leiemordercontract killer
Polish płatny zabójca, cyngiel
- płatny zabójcacontract killer
- cyngielcontract killer
Portuguese assassino de aluguel, sicário
- assassino de aluguelcontract killer
- sicáriocontract killer
Romanian killer, asasin
- killercontract killer
- asasincontract killer
- ucigașcontract killer
- sicarcontract killer
Russian наёмный уби́йца, ки́ллер
- наёмный уби́йца (najómnyj ubíjca)contract killer
- ки́ллер (kíller)contract killer
Slovak nájomný vrah
- nájomný vrahcontract killer
Spanish sicario, asesino a sueldo
- sicariocontract killer
- asesino a sueldocontract killer
Swedish yrkesmördare, torped
- yrkesmördarecontract killer
- torpedcontract killer
Thai ผู้ลอบสังหาร, ผู้ลอบสังหาร
- ผู้ลอบสังหารcontract killer
- ผู้ลอบสังหาร (pûu-sɔ̀ɔp-sǎng-hǎan)contract killer
- นักฆ่า (nák-kâa)contract killer
Turkish kiralık katil, tetikçi
- kiralık katilcontract killer
- tetikçicontract killer
Ukrainian на́йманий вби́вця
- на́йманий вби́вця (nájmanyj vbývcja)contract killer
Vietnamese kẻ ám sát
- kẻ ám sátcontract killer
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
hitman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hitman
MLA
“hitman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hitman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hitman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hitman.
Source: hitman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.