Thesaurus:defector
English
Noun
Sense: a person who ceases or changes their loyalty
Synonyms
- apostate
- balimbing (Philippines)
- butterfly (Philippines)
- changeling (archaic, figurative)
- defector
- runagate
- traitor
- transfuge (dated)
- turncloak (rare)
- turncoat
- turntippet (obsolete)
- withersake (archaic)
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
- defector-in-place (espionage)
- walk-in (espionage)
- —
- datlash (Judaism, rare)
- meshummad (Judaism)
- murtadd (Islam)
- —
- backslider
- deconvert [⇒ thesaurus]
- recidivist
Various
- deserter
- scalphunter (espionage)
- waverer
Further reading
- “6070. tergiversation” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.
- “defector” in Moby Thesaurus II, Grady Ward, 1996.