Skip to main content
hit woman

hit woman

1 9.1
A woman who is paid to kill people, often using a gun
  • noun
  • /hɪt ˈwʊmən/
  • NSFW
translation icon : mujer de la mafia
  • We don't hit women--

Examples

  • In the story, the notorious hit woman expertly carried out her assignments with precision and stealth.

  • Hit... woman.

  • It's just another day in the life of this neurotic hit woman...

    Blog text (8)
  • Someone's cleaning house using a brunette hit woman.

  • Not you, 'cause I don't hit women, but I'm tellin' you--

  • The movie featured a skilled hit woman who took on dangerous contracts to eliminate high-profile targets.

  • The detective struggled to track down the elusive hit woman responsible for a series of high-profile assassinations.

Synonyms

murderess
vshit woman
  • NSFW
7 6.9

A woman who kills another person on purpose

means a female who works as a paid killer rather than simply having killed
hired gun
vshit woman
  • Offensive
4 8.9

A person paid to kill someone

is female-focused rather than a general paid killer
gun for hire
vshit woman
  • NSFW
2 9.1

A person who is paid to kill someone with a gun

is female-specific where the other is a neutral label for any gender
hitwoman
vshit woman
  • NSFW
9.9

A woman who is paid to kill someone, often using a gun

is identical in meaning but written as a single word

Surface Forms

hit woman singular
hit women plural

Morphology

hit + woman

The meaning 'female professional killer' depends on the slang/idiomatic sense of 'hit' (as in 'to carry out a hit' or the compound 'hitman'), not the basic meaning 'to strike'. A B1 learner who knows only the literal meanings of 'hit' and 'woman' would not infer 'assassin', so the expression is idiomatic and unpredictable.

Etymology

Hit woman: The phrase hit woman comes from the crime world, where hit meant a planned killing and a 'hit man' was someone paid to carry it out. So a hit woman is a woman hired to kill, meaning 'a female professional killer'.