turncoat
a person who changes to the opposite party or faction, reverses principles, etc.; renegade.
Origin of turncoat
1Words Nearby turncoat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use turncoat in a sentence
Many Poles use the term “turncoat” in a completely different way.
More often than not, turncoat spies are successfully recruited as one-offs, through serendipity and dumb luck.
The CIA Tried Hard to Recruit Spies Among the Al Qaeda Prisoners at Gitmo | Daniel Klaidman | November 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe notes variously called him a turncoat, a RINO, a traitor, or worse.
Marco Rubio Spurned by Original Tea Party Supporters Over Immigration | Patricia Murphy | July 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut for many Republicans today, this quality makes him something of a turncoat.
Chuck Hagel’s Career Shows He’s Not Afraid to Change His Mind | Eli Lake | January 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTYet another Republican turncoat, Powell obviously endorsed Obama twice.
Six Nominees to Succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State | Michael Tomasky | November 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
The reader now knows that the pity thus bestowed upon that pitiful fox-hunting turncoat was utterly thrown away.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneMr. Scott is an honest man, and naturally thinks me a hypocrite and turncoat as well as a fool.
Arrows of the Chace, v. 2 | John RuskinHe had no desire to be addressed by his name before this precarious mob already mad with rage at a turncoat.
The City of Delight | Elizabeth MillerWhy, 'tis the man who allowed the rebels to seize Southsea Castle, the same who was hand in glove with the turncoat, Goring.
The Young Cavalier | Percy F. WestermanHe realized the weight of misery this pathetic turncoat might expect thereafter at the hands of Britt and his crew of “Busters.”
King Spruce, A Novel | Holman Day
British Dictionary definitions for turncoat
/ (ˈtɜːnˌkəʊt) /
a person who deserts one cause or party for the opposite faction; renegade
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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