recreants

noun

plural of recreant
1
as in deserters
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right traditionally armies have dealt harshly with recreants, with execution being a common punishment for desertion during wartime

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cowards
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger the historian reserved his greatest contempt for those recreants who opposed the witch hunt but lacked the courage to speak out against it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in traitors
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance a spy and recreant to his country

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for recreants
  1. deserters
  2. cowards
  3. traitors
  4. rebels
  5. chickens
  6. insurgents
  7. renegades
Noun
  • And within his own country’s history, particularly, Dhont discovered the fates that met would-be deserters who were caught — brutal sentences often leading to death.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026
  • 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
Definition of deserters
Noun
  • In reality, the refs just do the bidding of the cowards behind the curtain.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 14 July 2026
  • These are American cowards that are rooting against our Country.
    — Khaled Wassef, CBS News, 13 May 2026
Definition of cowards
Noun
  • In reality, the big debate has been about questions such as whether military bases should be named for traitors and whether governments should host monuments to a rebellion to defend slavery.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
  • Those who opposed the coup, like Tom Keith's grandfather, are still often thought of as traitors, just as his distant relatives are.
    — Lee Cowan, CBS News, 12 July 2026
Definition of traitors
Noun
  • Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced as pro-democracy groups and ethnic rebels battle the military across the country.
    — Helen Regan, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Conflict began in the country in 2013 after mostly Muslim rebels seized power and forced then President François Bozizé to quit.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of rebels
Noun
  • Marvin realized that the options are running low because, at some point, these chickens got to come home to roost.
    — Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026
  • Isaac Beard spent nearly a decade studying Nashville’s varied hot chickens and developing his own formula before opening Pepperfire in 2010.
    — Ellen Fort, Bon Appetit Magazine, 31 July 2026
Definition of chickens
Noun
  • The attack occurred in Mastung, a district in Balochistan province where separatist insurgents have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • One of the insurgents, a doctoral student in sociology named Darializa Avila Chevalier, is far more emblematic of the DSA’s radicalism.
    — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Definition of insurgents
Noun
  • In short, this list reminded me that our radicals and renegades are the best thing about this great nation.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
  • There are Sixties rock bands like the Sonics and the Small Faces, and pioneering hippie renegades like Love or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
Definition of renegades
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.

Browse Nearby Words

recreant
recreants
recreate
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Recreants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recreants. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of torpor

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All