as in to desert
to leave (a cause or party) often in order to take up another
soldiers defected from the rebel army en masse as the failure of their cause became apparent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defect (from)
Verb
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Some European countries, deserted by the United States and lacking a formidable European-only defense alliance, may be cowed into cutting deals with Moscow.—
Liana Fix,
Foreign Affairs,
1 May 2025 -
When this reporter stopped by on a Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. several months ago, the bar/restaurant was deserted.—
Gary Stern,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Republicans who fall for this scheme are abandoning any pretense of free-market principles.—
Sally Pipes,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
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Even though Bezos is less involved in the day-to-day running of the tech giant, within hours of Trump’s call, Amazon publicly downplayed the potential plan to list tariffs before abandoning it entirely.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
2 May 2025
Verb
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Shirley has discovered that Conrad was rejected for a job at UNIT eight years ago.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
3 May 2025
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The judge has now said that’s not good enough, and rejected Bungie’s motion to dismiss.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
Verb
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Today, the city’s main protection against high tides is the MOSE set of flood barriers that rises from the seabed to cut off the lagoon from the Adriatic during exceptionally high tides.—
Julia Buckley,
CNN Money,
4 May 2025
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Allies had to work behind the scenes to mend relations after the U.S. cut off intelligence sharing and all aid to Ukraine.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
3 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defect (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defect%20%28from%29. Accessed 19 May. 2025.
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