betrayer

noun

1
as in informer
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing the arrested drug dealer vowed that he would get his revenge on his betrayer

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in traitor
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance the betrayer of Anne Frank's family in Amsterdam has never been identified for certain

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 betrayer The inferno that follows, as the betrayer’s dragon sets fire to both armies and then Tumbleton itself, will be rendered with both practical flames and CGI. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 Then go ahead and depict the country’s prime minister as the betrayer of Christ. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026 Lesch plays the savior’s anguished betrayer not as an intellectual equal who fiercely debates him and loses all patience with the movement. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026 Judas, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, was believed to be the 13th Apostle to join the table at the Last Supper. — Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for betrayer
  1. informer
  2. traitor
  3. informant
  4. canary
  5. rat
Noun
  • One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.
    — Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026
  • And so every regime invests in having student informers.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of informer
Noun
  • Abby became suspicious of Kuehl during a private conversation about possible traitors in the group.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Abraham and Szor, both Israeli filmmakers, have been denounced as traitors in Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has threatened to revoke their citizenship.
    — Justin Chang, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of traitor
Noun
  • Ziccarelli said that Cochran claimed the charges were withdrawn because the defendant was working as a confidential informant.
    — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, an FBI informant who had helped recruit the squad of commandos, had learned of the constitutional obstacles after consulting with an Ecuadorian lawyer, José Antonio Corrales.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of informant
Noun
  • For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday.
    — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Astronauts bring them on journeys to keep an eye on whether or not the water filtration systems are working, much the way miners used to take canaries down to the coal mines to check for poisonous gas leaks.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • New research has also shown that reducing another signaling chemical, norepinephrine, in certain brain regions can decrease rats’ ability to learn from situations where expected rewards are less available.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The Republican billionaire accused of fueling an infestation of rats in Chicago.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of rat

Browse Nearby Words

betrayed
betrayer
betrayers
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Cite this Entry

“Betrayer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/betrayer. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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