as in traitor
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right
we had orders to find and capture the deserters before they could reveal our location
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of deserter
Language purists like to remind anyone who will listen that decimation actually means the slaughter of one in ten people, and was the military punishment wielded by the Roman army against deserters and mutineers.
—
Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
In 1945, three men — two Jewish refugees living in Brooklyn and one Nazi deserter — enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2025
Despite opposition to busing, particularly among White families who comprised much of Louisville's Catholic population, Archbishop McDonough vowed in 1974 that his schools would not become the home of public school deserters.
—Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2025
When Bloomberg asked 5,000 early Model 3 owners that year what cars used to be in their driveway, the survey found an alarming number of BMW deserters.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deserter
Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
In 1945, three men — two Jewish refugees living in Brooklyn and one Nazi deserter — enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2025
Despite opposition to busing, particularly among White families who comprised much of Louisville's Catholic population, Archbishop McDonough vowed in 1974 that his schools would not become the home of public school deserters.
—Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2025
When Bloomberg asked 5,000 early Model 3 owners that year what cars used to be in their driveway, the survey found an alarming number of BMW deserters.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deserter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deserter
Noun
-
It’s populated by craven, cowardly traitors.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
25 Mar. 2026
-
After Kent’s resignation, Republican hawks denounced him as a kook and a traitor to the cause, without touching on the delicate question of why Trump appointed such a disreputable figure in the first place.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
As the decade wore on, though, my parents grew up—as happens to young rebels—and my mother, unexpectedly, started thinking about having kids.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Their work and mental health were further disrupted when Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking ships in the Red Sea, with at least nine sailors killed and 11 others held captive for five months.—
Mithil Aggarwal,
NBC news,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
However, in the French Riviera city of Nice, an ally of Marine Le Pen's party, renegade conservative Eric Ciotti, looks set to win against a candidate backed by the center.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Wandering around the park, dry leaves crunching underfoot, feels like crashing a dress rehearsal, or an extremely chill treeworker renegade.—
Calin Van Paris,
Outside,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Deserter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deserter. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
