traitor

noun

trai·​tor ˈtrā-tər 

1

: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty

2

: one who commits treason

Synonyms of traitor

• betrayer
• snake

Examples of traitor in a Sentence

She has been called a traitor to the liberal party's cause.

He was a traitor who betrayed his country by selling military secrets to the enemy.

Recent Examples on the Web

Faithfuls also have chances to banish traitors by voting them out of the castle during a nightly event called the roundtable. —Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026

Her competitors easily and near-unanimously tagged her as a traitor and banished her in the third episode. —Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026

With only three players remaining, Maura and Rob voted to banish Eric, leaving Rob with the total prize pot of over $200,000 as the last remaining traitor to make it to the end. —Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026

Rinna was selected as one of the traitors on the show, but she was voted off. —Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English traytour, from Anglo-French traitre, from Latin traditor, from tradere to hand over, deliver, betray, from trans-, tra- trans- + dare to give — more at date

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing traitor

• turn traitor

Rhymes for traitor

• cater
• crater
• frater
• freighter
• gator
• grater
• greater
• hater
• krater
• later
• plater
• prater

Kids Definition

traitor

noun

trai·​tor ˈtrāt-ər 

1

: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty

2

: one who commits treason

Etymology

Middle English traitre "traitor," from early French traitre (same meaning), from Latin traditor (same meaning), derived from tradere "to hand over, betray" — related to treason see Word History at treason