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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Recent Examples of defectors
Anthropic, whose ranks include many safety-minded defectors from its rival, argues the slower rollout will help society adapt to the powerful new tools.
—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
Disclosure Day, based on an original story by Spielberg, centers on a decades-long government conspiracy to cover up the existence of alien life, and the group of defectors intent on releasing that intel to the public.
—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 June 2026
Heck, our homegrown liberal media and the city of San Francisco even celebrated Olympic defectors like Eileen Gu, who was paid by the Chinese Communist Party to compete for them in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
—
Jon Root Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
Anthropic, the lab founded by its own defectors, confidentially filed this week at a near $1 trillion valuation.
—
Rory McDonald,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
While that's a steep legislative hill, a sizeable group of Republican senators has openly complained about the fund, leaving open the possibility that Democrats could lure across the aisle an embarrassing number of GOP defectors.
—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
3 June 2026
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
The entire family of defectors gathered a year later to celebrate her first birthday in a bright banquet hall in Seoul.
—
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
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
Disclosure Day, based on an original story by Spielberg, centers on a decades-long government conspiracy to cover up the existence of alien life, and the group of defectors intent on releasing that intel to the public.
—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 June 2026
Heck, our homegrown liberal media and the city of San Francisco even celebrated Olympic defectors like Eileen Gu, who was paid by the Chinese Communist Party to compete for them in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
—
Jon Root Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
Anthropic, the lab founded by its own defectors, confidentially filed this week at a near $1 trillion valuation.
—
Rory McDonald,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
While that's a steep legislative hill, a sizeable group of Republican senators has openly complained about the fund, leaving open the possibility that Democrats could lure across the aisle an embarrassing number of GOP defectors.
—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
3 June 2026
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
The entire family of defectors gathered a year later to celebrate her first birthday in a bright banquet hall in Seoul.
—
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defectors
Noun
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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.
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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.
Noun
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Just one more thing … this organization does not tolerate traitors!
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Keep your actual and suspected traitors closer – the non-loyal, uncommitted, secretive, suspicious, dishonest, deceitful, chronically negative, and regularly undermining.
Noun
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And the old person who rebels is ridiculous.
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There was relative peace for 11 years, until a second civil war erupted in 1983, when leaders in Khartoum imposed sharia (Islamic) law and accelerated repression of the southern Christian rebels, which ultimately allowed a ruthless military officer, Omar al-Bashir, to come to power in 1989.
Noun
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Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long seen clashes between security forces, insurgents and drug smugglers.
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Nine American soldiers died and 27 others were injured while fighting a battle against 200 Taliban insurgents in the village of Wanat in Afghanistan’s Waygal Valley.
Noun
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There are Sixties rock bands like the Sonics and the Small Faces, and pioneering hippie renegades like Love or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.
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People didn’t come to the series with a working knowledge of the State Department, ready to see what the renegades were like.
Cite this Entry
“Defectors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defectors. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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