Synonym Chooser

How is the word traitorous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of traitorous are disloyal, faithless, false, perfidious, and treacherous. While all these words mean "untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance," traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust.

traitorous acts punishable by death

Where would disloyal be a reasonable alternative to traitorous?

The words disloyal and traitorous can be used in similar contexts, but disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country.

disloyal to their country

When could faithless be used to replace traitorous?

The words faithless and traitorous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty.

faithless allies

When is it sensible to use false instead of traitorous?

While in some cases nearly identical to traitorous, false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery.

betrayed by false friends

How do perfidious and faithless relate to one another, in the sense of traitorous?

Perfidious adds to faithless the implication of an incapacity for fidelity or reliability.

a perfidious double-crosser

In what contexts can treacherous take the place of traitorous?

Although the words treacherous and traitorous have much in common, treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence.

a treacherous adviser

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 traitorous But what will their first move as a traitorous duo be? Tom Smyth, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2025 The blame for this terrifying scenario, McCarthy declared, rested with traitorous federal employees, who had sold their country out and had to be purged from its service. Made By History, TIME, 9 Feb. 2025 Guinevere, usually relegated to the thankless role of traitorous wife, acts here as Arthur’s beloved confidante. Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 16 July 2024 Foreign military interventions can change victims from being viewed as a nuisance into being seen as powerful and traitorous enemies, potentially capable of exacting revenge, seizing power, or breaking away from the state. Benjamin A. Valentino, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2011 See All Example Sentences for traitorous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traitorous
Adjective
  • The false assurance was more than a slip.
    Eric Tucker, Twin Cities, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Robinson, the founder of the now-defunct anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), was released from prison earlier this year, having been jailed for being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee.
    Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Remote and treacherous, the Northwest Passage has been transited less than 500 times in recorded history.
    Robin Catalano, AFAR Media, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Ignoring his father’s plea, Spike, upon his return home, decides to venture through the treacherous territory of the infected with his ailing mother, Isla (Jodie Comer), to see if Kelson can help cure her.
    Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • This approach is unreliable because the proxy materials, like volcanic rock, might have been changed by geological processes or created long after the eggs were laid, resulting in incorrect age estimates.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Everyone knew taxis were an unreliable and largely unlovable service.
    David Malcolm, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Analysts in Colombia agree that Maduro's internal military personnel are untrained, disloyal, and that many cannot be located.
    Kristina Foltz, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
  • After President Trump’s 2020 election loss, upstart challengers like Newsmax and One America News looked to woo the MAGA base, some of whom were upset at Fox News after President Trump denounced the network as disloyal.
    Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Her Ashley is the movie’s fourth and fifth wheel, dismissed as both a perfidious troublemaker and a New Age airhead—a life coach in need of a wife coach.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
  • This perfidious situation, unintentional as its creation may have been, was strongly critiqued as far back as 1983 by Jonathan Crush and Paul Wellings in an article in The Journal of Modern African Studies.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Spouses, in this gritty Philadelphia suburb, are mostly faithless, absent or dead.
    Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
  • In 2016, a record number of faithless votes were cast.
    Robert Alexander and Anna Dawley, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Just days before True's birth, Kardashian learned that Thompson had allegedly been unfaithful.
    Clare Fisher, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
  • However, their relationship deteriorated once Paul found proof that Mortensen was unfaithful early in their relationship and had lied to her for years.
    Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Claims that the school was not cooperating with its student groups are untrue, university officials said, and the event will take place at Desert Financial Arena at no cost to students or their organizations.
    Helen Rummel, AZCentral.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • But getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible.
    Cheryl V. Jackson, IndyStar, 11 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Traitorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traitorous. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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