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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Another grievance that defectors and deserters commonly cited was declining salaries.—
Mara R. Revkin,
Foreign Affairs,
1 May 2016 -
According to some reports, defectors and deserters have been burned or frozen to death in Iraq.—
Mara R. Revkin,
Foreign Affairs,
1 May 2016
Noun
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Gabbard repeatedly refused to call Snowden a traitor at the hearing.—
Justin Green,
Axios,
4 Feb. 2025
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Anyone who refuses to label a traitor to the U.S. as a traitor is completely unqualified to lead our intelligence community.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
2 Feb. 2025
Noun
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To someone, the renegade and pop-culture memes might be worth a few months’ rent.—
Hank Sanders,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
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The renegades’ aim was to alert the people in their outies’ lives of the horrors innies experience.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Last week, a humanitarian ceasefire announced by M23 fell apart almost immediately after it was declared, as the rebels swiftly advanced into Nyabibwe.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN,
12 Feb. 2025
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Trump could also run into problems in Congress where the Republicans have only a slim majority in both the Senate and House, meaning a small number of GOP rebels could disrupt his plans.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The day was marked by mixed emotions as two of our volunteers, Samuel and Harut, learned that Syrian towns had fallen to insurgents after Bashar al-Assad's exit.—
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
Newsweek,
4 Feb. 2025
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In Mogadishu, Somalia, the State Department instructed security guards who were protecting an arms depot from insurgents to simply walk off the site, according to a company official.—
Brett Murphy,
ProPublica,
31 Jan. 2025
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Thesaurus Entries Near defector
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“Defector.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defector. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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