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
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Recent Examples of deserter
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, 25 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for deserter
Air Mail, 25 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for deserter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deserter
Noun
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Both groups were accused of being spies, traitors and collaborators, according to the report.—
Sam Metz,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
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He was shunned by his homeland and called a traitor.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Mahamat Idriss Déby, 42, seized power in Chad after his father, Idriss Déby, was killed fighting rebels in 2021, before winning elections in 2024.—
Farai Mutsaka,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
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The group has been responsible for current President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s security and for fighting rebel groups.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 June 2026
Noun
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People didn’t come to the series with a working knowledge of the State Department, ready to see what the renegades were like.—
Debora Cahn,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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Young Julian might also be surprised by how your Corpus crew, which started kind of like a renegade group of friends, now has real community impact.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2026
Noun
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Anthropic, whose ranks include many safety-minded defectors from its rival, argues the slower rollout will help society adapt to the powerful new tools.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
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Daisy appears to be a Canadian defector hoping for acceptance within Gilead, but she’s actually been recruited as a spy by Moss, who continues her role as June Osborne from The Handmaid’s Tale.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
17 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deserter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deserter. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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