assassinate vs asperse

assassinate and asperse both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
assassinate	No	No	Yes	No
asperse	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, asperse is a hypernym of assassinate; that is, asperse is a word with a broader meaning than assassinate:

assassinate: destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation
asperse: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

Other hypernyms of assassinate include besmirch, calumniate, defame, denigrate, slander, smear, smirch, sully.

assassinate (verb)	asperse (verb)
destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation	charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
murder; especially of socially prominent persons