as in traitor
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance
a backstabber taking credit for work she didn't do while bad-mouthing the rest of the team to the boss
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Recent Examples of backstabber
The result is a scathing takedown that will find techies throughout the Valley looking over their shoulders and speculating on who is who amongst the show’s motley collection of fictional backstabbers obsessed with growing their profit margin and amassing wealth and power.
—
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
There were no suggestions that good family friends were liars or backstabbers, no angry exchanges between a man’s wife and the same man’s sister.
—Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
Prayer mats lie next to heavy artillery; smoke billows from parked whips; backstabbers get cut first.
—Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
There were no suggestions that good family friends were liars or backstabbers, no angry exchanges between a man’s wife and the same man’s sister.
—Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
Prayer mats lie next to heavy artillery; smoke billows from parked whips; backstabbers get cut first.
—Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backstabber
traitor
Noun
-
Linking their destinities is a man—presumably the traitor’s son of the title—with the extra wrinkle that Elegy is fated to fall in love with him.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer is selling himself as a class traitor in his bid for California governor.—
Sophie Austin,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Backstabber.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backstabber. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
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