besmirch vs assassinate

besmirch and assassinate both are verbs.

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

As verbs, assassinate is a hyponym of besmirch; that is, assassinate is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than besmirch:

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

Other hyponyms of besmirch include libel, badmouth, drag through the mud, malign, traduce.

besmirch (verb)	assassinate (verb)
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone	destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation
smear so as to make dirty or stained	murder; especially of socially prominent persons