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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defector
Noun
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Badghis and Faryab, along the line demarcating Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, are in particularly poor shape as deserters leave behind dwindling numbers of guards.—
George Gavrilis,
Foreign Affairs,
4 June 2015 -
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
Noun
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Such an admission would mean that his family would never be safe again, since they’d forever be associated with a traitor.—
Avi Asher-Schapiro,
ProPublica,
22 Aug. 2025
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The fort, which overlooks the Thames River, was the site of an 1781 massacre led by the infamous traitor Benedict Arnold.—
Ashley Craig,
Hartford Courant,
9 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
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Adapted from Chinese folklore, the film follows a boy named Ne Zha (Crystal Lee) who is born with demon-like powers and rebels against his hawk-eyed, human parents Lady Yin and Li Jing (Vincent Rodriguez III).—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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Since January, thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army.—
Jean Kaseya,
Time,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But as the threat of insurgents has receded abroad, the Trump administration has brought these tactics home.—
Time,
Time,
8 Aug. 2025
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On the one hand, there is the prospect of insurgents who can field swarms of armed drones.—
Dexter Filkins,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
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“Defector.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defector. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
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