assassination vs character assassination

assassination and character assassination both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
assassination	Yes	No	No	No
character assassination	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, assassination and character assassination are synonyms defined as:

assassination and character assassination: an attack intended to ruin someone's reputation

Other synonyms of assassination include blackwash.

assassination (noun)	character assassination (noun)
murder of a public figure by surprise attack	an attack intended to ruin someone's reputation
an attack intended to ruin someone's reputation