as in deserts
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defects (from)
Verb
-
There are 15 overall child care deserts out of 74 ZIP codes in Tarrant, and 40% of those deserts are considered to be chronic.—
Lina Ruiz
April 16,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Apr. 2026 -
Sean, 17, deserts his post in the midst of the Iraq war and returns to England.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
5 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Katie fully catches on to his selfish game, though, and firmly rejects him at last.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
-
Turkey vehemently rejects the label, conceding many died in that era but insisting the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
In California, anyone who abandons an elderly person under certain circumstances can be charged with a misdemeanor or possibly a felony.—
Alexiah Syrai Olsen,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
-
In 1849 Melville switched to full-on fiction with a romance about an American sailor who abandons his whaling ship to explore the South Pacific.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
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
“Defects (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defects%20%28from%29. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
