traitorous
Americanadjective
-
having the character of a traitor; treacherous; perfidious.
- Synonyms:
- faithless, treasonous, disloyal
-
characteristic of a traitor.
- Synonyms:
- faithless, treasonous, disloyal
-
of the nature of treason; treasonable.
a traitorous act.
- Synonyms:
- faithless, treasonous, disloyal
Other Word Forms
- nontraitorous adjective
- nontraitorously adverb
- nontraitorousness noun
- traitorously adverb
- traitorousness noun
- untraitorous adjective
- untraitorously adverb
- untraitorousness noun
Etymology
Origin of traitorous
1350–1400; Middle English treterous, traytrous < Old French traitreus; traitor, -ous
Explanation
If you can't be trusted to keep your best friend's terrible secret, she's going to start thinking of you as traitorous, or completely unfaithful and unreliable. A traitor is someone who betrays the trust another person has put in him, and the adjective traitorous describes this tendency. It is traitorous when a double agent sells her country's secrets to another government: and the traitorous person risks spending her life in prison or even being executed. It's also traitorous to tell your parents that your brother broke the kitchen window, if you've sworn to him that you'll keep his secret.
Vocabulary lists containing traitorous
The Alchemist
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Bridge to Terabithia
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Stella by Starlight
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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.
"I couldn't go back on my word to you," Stephen told Rachel after voting for Jack - meaning the traitorous pair stormed to victory after going undetected together through the series, sharing the £95,750 prize.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026
Facebook and TikTok users labeled Tran, now 25, as traitorous, anti-Vietnam — and Cali.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2025
Watching Madix's traitorous bestie Raquel Leviss display loyalty for the cameras transformed the viewing experience, driving home the artificiality of reality TV relationships.
From Salon • Dec. 2, 2023
A common plotline, Mr. Zwetsloot says, is imperialist Japanese returning to Korea to assist Americans by reactivating traitorous spy nets.
From Washington Times • Jul. 26, 2023
And even he himself had entertained the traitorous thought that now he would be the fastest.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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.
