deserter
Americannoun
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a soldier or draftee who leaves or runs away from service or duty with the intention of never returning.
Deserters from the rebel army tell of low morale among its remaining fighters.
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a person who fails to uphold a cause or who abandons someone else, especially in violation of a promise or obligation.
Some of those remaining in the home country view emigrants living abroad as deserters from their mother culture.
A family deserter is one who can but will not support a spouse or dependents.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of deserter
Explanation
Someone who abandons their responsibilities is a deserter. Being a military deserter is particularly serious, with harsh consequences. Anyone who deserts a post or obligation, abandoning it in an irresponsible, disloyal way, is a deserter. Your friends may call you a deserter if you promise to help them rake leaves but wander home after 20 minutes to watch TV instead. In the military, being a deserter is nearly as bad as being a traitor. During wartime, deserters can face long prison sentences.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It has so far not called him a deserter, even though he crossed the border without authorization while on active duty, and it has deferred questions about any punishments King might face.
From Reuters • Sep. 28, 2023
As a deserter from the Ukrainian army, he would face 10 years in jail if he was caught.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2023
Spain expelled another deserter, Mohamed Abdellah, a dissident gendarme, to Algeria last August.
From Seattle Times • May 27, 2022
Anawrahta was an 11th-century Buddhist king who established a Burmese empire, and the name carries a special meaning to the military, said the deserter, Zin Yaw.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 29, 2021
American spy John Champe swims to a welcoming British patrol boat after out-running pursuing Americans, who think he is a deserter.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
