defame vs assassinate

defame and assassinate both are verbs.

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

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

defame: 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 defame include libel, badmouth, drag through the mud, malign, traduce.

defame (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
	murder; especially of socially prominent persons