as in deserter
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right
the defector demanded political asylum in exchange for information about his nation's spying operations
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defector
Noun
-
Lincoln made frequent stops in the county and tried cases there as an attorney, according to the city, and Marshall was the site of an extended dispute during the Civil War involving Union Army deserters.—
John Tuohy,
IndyStar,
3 July 2025 -
But the group also used it as a tool of execution against deserters, inadvertently showcasing the brittleness of a regime that had to use fear to motivate even its mercenary soldiers to stay in the fight.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New York Times,
13 May 2025
Noun
-
Modern American presidents have called their domestic political opponents, or enemies, many things over the years, but never a traitor.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
28 July 2025
-
In the game, traitors are secretly chosen at the outset while the remaining contestants must work together to unmask them before being eliminated themselves.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
And, of course, my fantasy went right to some kind of renegade character along the lines of Saw Gerrera.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
-
The director Doris Wishman was a renegade: a woman who made lurid exploitation films at a time when American underground cinema was a man’s playground.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Noun
-
The attackers were members of the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a sanctioned rebel group with roots in Uganda.—
Paul Tilsley,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
-
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth divulged classified information in March from battlefield commanders about the U.S. attack on Houthi rebels in a chat on the commercial messaging app Signal, according to a U.S. official.—
Tom Vanden Brook,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
Prosecutors allege that Carvajal played a key role in coordinating large-scale cocaine shipments to the United States, using his official position to protect narcotics operations and facilitate deals with foreign insurgent groups, most notably Colombia’s FARC.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
25 June 2025
-
Inside is the man who arrived at Balenciaga as a 34-year old insurgent from Vetements in 2015, and is now moving on, aged 44, as one of the undisputed creative director titans of luxury fashion, charged to revive the flagging fortunes of Gucci.—
Sarah Mower,
Vogue,
24 June 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Defector.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defector. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share