BETRAYS Synonyms: 109 Similar and Opposite Words

betrays

verb

present tense third-person singular of betray

as in crosses

to be unfaithful or disloyal to childhood friends of movie stars often betray them by telling their secrets to the supermarket tabloids

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in reveals

to make known (something abstract) through outward signs his face betrayed his exasperation with his nosy neighbor

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as in tempts

to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage she was betrayed by a false show of friendship into covering up the crime

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of betrays After Sugar betrays her, Barbara cuts her friend off for decades, despite missing her deeply. —

Isle McElroy, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026 But even this was a poor comparison for sumo’s place in the racial politics of Japan today; boxing, after all, was brought to America from England, while sumo, like Kabuki, is one of Japan’s few expressive institutions whose folklore betrays little trace of outside influence. —

Joshua Hunt, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026 Low-key and reserved on and off the course, the 23-year-old rarely betrays emotion. —

Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026 The silliness betrays the seriousness. —

J. Aaron Sanders, STAT, 4 Feb. 2026 What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. —

Ted Johnson, Deadline, 27 Jan. 2026 Leavitt—who ran for Congress, in 2022, and lost—betrays no such struggle. —

Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026 Too often, set pieces and characters that should be crushing look like clutter, and even the sound design betrays a core misunderstanding of how horror movies fundamentally work. —

Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 23 Jan. 2026 Ignoring the menace created by aggressive federal immigration enforcement in the United States betrays the very foundations of the Republican movement. —

Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 21 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for betrays

Verb

Orban has frequently complained that Ukraine has blocked its oil supplies through a Russian pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.

— Tim Lister, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2026
The road to the potato patches — where the community grows most of its vegetables — crosses several large gulches that frequently spill tons of rock and soil onto the track, requiring regular maintenance.

— NPR, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026