DEFECTORS Synonyms: 43 Similar and Opposite Words

defectors

noun

plural of defector

as in deserters

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

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of defectors Pahlavi’s team began putting out various plans to further erode the regime’s authority, calling on workers to strike and releasing a QR code through which defectors in the state security forces could sign on to his project, which Pahlavi claimed had elicited fifty thousand responses. —

Azadeh Moaveni, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026 Mirrors were such a precious commodity in the heyday of the Venetian Republic that the assassins were dispatched to, well, dispatch any defectors who left La Serenissima and tried to take the secrets of creating that mesmerizing, reflective surface along with them. —

Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 17 Mar. 2026 Some regimes were and are particularly brutal towards defectors, not least Hungary in the 1940s. —

Nick Miller, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026 In 2023, the island even began to allow defectors to represent the national team in the World Baseball Classic. —

Tyler Carmona, Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2026 Another pattern to watch is that of defectors from the IRGC. —

Felice Friedson, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2026 The documentary focuses on the Jangdaehyun School in Busan where the small student body – only 20 kids – are all defectors. —

Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2026 And with members' own reelection hopes beginning to clash with some politically unpopular policies coming from the White House, the number of Republican defectors could grow as the midterm elections approach. —

CBS News, 25 Feb. 2026 At the time, the president vowed to back primary challengers to the Republican defectors. —

Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 27 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defectors

Noun

Harry Truman granted amnesty to certain World War II deserters, while Jimmy Carter granted pardons to hundreds of thousands of individuals who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War.

— Stewart Ulrich, The Conversation, 15 Dec. 2025
More important, though, is the fact that the judge who posited that hordes of deserters could follow Vovchenko’s example seems to be overstepping his role.

— Air Mail, Air Mail, 25 Oct. 2025