1
as in informer
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the arrested drug dealer vowed that he would get his revenge on his betrayer
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2
as in traitor
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance
the betrayer of Anne Frank's family in Amsterdam has never been identified for certain
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Recent Examples of betrayer
Judas, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, was believed to be the 13th Apostle to join the table at the Last Supper.
—
Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Feb. 2026
Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for betrayer
Noun
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And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
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The whole family is deeply involved in the revolutionary movement: the oldest son disappears into Siberia, never to be seen or heard of again, while the youngest, eighteen, is jailed together with his father, and executed after his cell is exposed by an informer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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McCarthy’s rampage was about rooting out traitors.—
Ali Breland,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
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Each night, the traitors eliminate one faithful by figuratively murdering them, ending their time on the show.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Takeshi Ebisawa poses with a rocket launcher during a meeting with an informant and two undercover Danish police officers at a warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark February 3, 2021, in a photograph from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) criminal complaint.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
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Jailhouse informant pointed to Puckett The events that led to his death began the evening of March 12, 1998 — not March 13, as originally presented at trial.—
Theresa Clift,
Sacbee.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
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By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Largest rat surrender in years This was the largest rat surrender that the MSPCA has seen in more than five years, and 60% more than the total number of rats the organization adopted out in 2025.—
Neal Riley,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Several new billboards on Interstate 84 in Hartford and West Hartford are sending a not-so-gentile reminder that rat poison kills more than just rats.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Betrayer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/betrayer. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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