as in deserter
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right
the defector demanded political asylum in exchange for information about his nation's spying operations
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defector
Noun
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Russia is also reported to have forcibly sent hundreds of its military deserters to the front line in Ukraine.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Apr. 2025 -
Its return hearkens back to other periods in American history when firing squads were more common, such as the colonial era and the Civil War, when it was used against deserters.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC News,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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One White South African called Rupert a traitor to his fellow Afrikaners in a social media post.—
Larry Madowo,
CNN Money,
22 May 2025
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Some of my children have called me a Nazi, a traitor.—
Beatrice Weber,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2025
Noun
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The director Doris Wishman was a renegade: a woman who made lurid exploitation films at a time when American underground cinema was a man’s playground.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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Krasinski plays Luke, the sort of quippy renegade who clearly watched too many Indiana Jones movies in his youth.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2025
Noun
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Iran has also for years militarily and financially supported regional militia groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, that have pressured or attacked Israel on multiple fronts.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
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Worried about Michilimackinac’s vulnerability to attacks by American rebels, the British relocated the fort to the high bluffs of Mackinac Island in 1780 and shortened its name.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
9 June 2025
Noun
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Authorities have also reported sightings of ELN guerrillas, a Colombian-Venezuelan insurgent faction, operating near key Guyanese border towns.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2025
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Spain approved the deal on Oct. 3, 2023, four days before an insurgent assault led by Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a devastating war in Gaza.—
Brittany Williams,
Arkansas Online,
4 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defector.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defector. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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