DEFECTORS Synonyms: 43 Similar and Opposite Words

defectors

noun

plural of defector

as in deserters

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

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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 defectors The officials said Russia’s security services are now more brazen in their choice of targets, going after Russian activists and foreign supporters of Ukraine, in addition to the usual suspects like military defectors. —

Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026 There were a couple of unexpected Senate Republican defectors, people like Todd Young and Josh Holly, who voted to advance a resolution, one of these War Powers Resolutions to halt hostilities in Venezuela. —

Dana Taylor, USA Today, 1 May 2026 South Korean officials confirmed details of Kim’s defection, and his descriptions of hardships faced by North Koreans mirror numerous accounts defectors shared with CNN. —

Mike Valerio, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2026 Evangelicals have mostly stuck by Trump, even with prominent defectors such as Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore and New York Times columnist David French railing against widespread Christian support for the president, given his personal life and tendency to make incendiary statements. —

W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 19 Apr. 2026 One of those defectors referenced Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as helping in his decision. —

ABC News, 13 Apr. 2026 But passing the bill will require almost unanimous support among congressional Republicans to get through, and only a few defectors could sink it. —

Jared Gans, The Hill, 3 Apr. 2026 Drawing at least in part on information from Chalker’s defectors, the Pentagon constructed life-size underground facsimiles of Iranian nuclear facilities where the scientists had worked, attempting to duplicate even the thickness of the walls. —

David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026 Parties have mostly voted in blocks on major issues in recent years, with small numbers of defectors increasingly rare. —

Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 27 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defectors

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