as in traitors
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance
the plot of the story revolved around the gangster's relentless determination to learn the identity of the turncoat
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Recent Examples of turncoats
President Abraham Lincoln called on state militias at the outset of the Civil War to help in fighting Confederate turncoats to the South.
—
Alana Wise, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
Alana Wise, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turncoats
traitors
Noun
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The competition show takes place in Scotland and has cast members divided into two groups, traitors and faithfuls, and the faithfuls try to vote off the traitors to win a cash prize.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
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The high-concept social experiment show, in which a group of strangers work together to uncover the traitors, sorry, werewolves, amongst them, was a breakout hit on Canal+ in France and has already been adapted for ARD’s online service in Germany.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Turncoats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turncoats. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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