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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 Anthropic, founded by OpenAI defectors, is now expected to be the first of the two companies to go public, two people familiar with its plans say, with the IPO as early as September. — Alex Heath, Time, 26 Aug. 2026 The documentary tracks students at the Jangdaehyun School in Busan, South Korea – an institution serving North Korean defectors and their families. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Aug. 2026 But intelligence officials previously told The Associated Press that Russia’s security services are now more brazen in their choice of targets, going after Russian activists and foreign supporters of Ukraine as well as military defectors. — Claudia Ciobanu, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026 But intelligence officials previously told The Associated Press that Russia's security services are now more brazen in their choice of targets, going after Russian activists and foreign supporters of Ukraine as well as military defectors. — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 Golf's media establishment mocked defectors as sellouts and eagerly counted down the days until LIV's collapse. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026 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 Anthropic, the lab founded by its own defectors, confidentially filed this week at a near $1 trillion valuation. — Rory McDonald, Fortune, 6 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defectors
  1. deserters
  2. traitors
  3. rebels
  4. insurgents
  5. renegades
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
Definition of deserters
Noun
  • Ortiz vowed to interrogate and, if necessary, kill any traitors who thwarted him and Simon.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 31 Aug. 2026
  • In reality, the big debate has been about questions such as whether military bases should be named for traitors and whether governments should host monuments to a rebellion to defend slavery.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Definition of traitors
Noun
  • Nathaniel Bacon and his rebels set fire to Jamestown, the capital of the Virginia colony.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Smokejumpers kicked cargo destined for mountain villages in Vietnam, Hmong rebels in Laos, and Muslim dissidents in China.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of rebels
Noun
  • The insecurity landscape is also more chaotic because some groups, after initially being invited to help defend against insurgents, turned into terrorists, said Dengiyefa Angalapu, an analyst at the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Socialists have found a new footing in the party, with younger and more left-wing insurgents ousting older establishment figures to demand generational and ideological change.
    — Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of insurgents
Noun
  • In some ways, there is a strange kind of unity to these three—all are set during the Depression, all feature stylish renegades.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026
  • There are Sixties rock bands like the Sonics and the Small Faces, and pioneering hippie renegades like Love or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
Definition of renegades

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defectors
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Cite this Entry

“Defectors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defectors. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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