turncoat
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of turncoat
First recorded in 1550–60; origin uncertain; possibly from the practice hiding one's allegiance by turning one's coat inside out and covering one's party colors, military insignia, or heraldic badges; turn + coat
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.
But that’s not quite right either: Pointing a finger at Tortora—as a dozen or so turncoat Camorristas will ultimately do—comes with benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
Better to keep a turncoat close than let him run wild.
From Salon • May 29, 2023
These specialists, unfortunately, arrive with several question marks, like the team’s sickly, retired engineer and a self-absorbed turncoat.
From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2023
But he is facing attack from Johnson allies who consider him a turncoat.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 15, 2022
For this he is branded a turncoat, within two years of the end of the war is being referred to by Southern newspapers as “the most hated man in the South.”
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
