betray
Americanverb (used with object)
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betrays,
present (3rd person singular)
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betrayed,
past participle, past
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betraying
present participle
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to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty.
Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.
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to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling.
to betray a trust.
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to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to.
to betray one's friends.
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to reveal or disclose in violation of confidence.
to betray a secret.
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to reveal unconsciously (something one would preferably conceal).
Her nervousness betrays her insecurity.
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to show or exhibit; reveal; disclose.
an unfeeling remark that betrays his lack of concern.
- Synonyms:
- uncover, demonstrate, manifest, display
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to deceive, misguide, or corrupt.
a young lawyer betrayed by political ambitions into irreparable folly.
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to seduce and desert.
verb
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to aid an enemy of (one's nation, friend, etc); be a traitor to
to betray one's country
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to hand over or expose (one's nation, friend, etc) treacherously to an enemy
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to disclose (a secret, confidence, etc) treacherously
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to break (a promise) or be disloyal to (a person's trust)
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to disappoint the expectations of; fail
his tired legs betrayed him
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to show signs of; indicate
if one taps china, the sound betrays any faults
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to reveal unintentionally
his grin betrayed his satisfaction
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to reveal one's true character, intentions, etc
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to lead astray; deceive
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euphemistic to seduce and then forsake (a woman)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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betrayalnoun
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betrayernoun
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prebetrayverb (used with object)
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self-betrayingadjective
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unbetrayingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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betraysimple
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betrayssimple
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have betrayedperfect
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has betrayedperfect
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am betrayingprogressive
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are betrayingprogressive
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is betrayingprogressive
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have been betrayingperfect progressive
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has been betrayingperfect progressive
Past
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betrayedsimple
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had betrayedperfect
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was betrayingprogressive
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were betrayingprogressive
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had been betrayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of betray
First recorded in 1200–50; from Middle English bitraien, equivalent to bi- be- + traien, from Old French trair, from Latin trādere “to betray”; see traitor
Explanation
When you betray someone or something, you provide information whether you mean to do it or not, like the loud growling of your stomach that betrays your hunger or the secret you tell about your friend that betrays her trust. When you betray someone or something, you reveal something, like a secret or your true feelings. You may betray your impatience, for example, if you sit at your desk tapping your fingers. There is another meaning of betray that is just the opposite: lie. You betray your friend if you pretend that something is true just to trick him into doing what you want. In this case, betray means the same thing as deceive.
Vocabulary lists containing betray
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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.
See Examples For:
Schwartz only won Senate confirmation on Wednesday, after a hearing in which she pledged to “never betray the science” on which CDC policies are based.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
You can't go against your values, nor can you betray others.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Yet lurching drops in some recent sessions betray investors’ underlying jitters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Recent pullbacks in hot chip stocks betray some nervousness around how far the artificial-intelligence trade can propel the market.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
“Yeah, but, Jim, we trust you with power. We know you won’t betray the poor.”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
In the casino, Sarris eagerly greets his employees with a friendliness that betrays his repeated insistence that he’s a reclusive writer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The Wrap said "at times it betrays its amateur beginnings with clunky plotting."
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
But the language used throughout the filing to describe potential confusion betrays their fears.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
Yet his message today to the world betrays Iran’s harsh reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
In the back of her mind, she had a nagging thought: What if this is a trick and he betrays us?
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
“It was just a safe place for us to change. And he betrayed our trust,” he added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Trump has told advisers that he is angry with Pirro and felt betrayed by the court filing, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
What stayed with those who heard the evidence was not the criminal offences alone that hurt families - it was how Bush betrayed them at their most vulnerable.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
These spaces are communities, and Mitrovich had betrayed an unspoken agreement to keep them that way.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
He had betrayed them yet again—but what could they do?
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
He said Simms did the right thing by not betraying his friendship with Shanahan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
But that refusal to risk vulnerability comes back to bite her when the daughter she turned herself inside out to spoil pulls a move reminiscent of Veda in “Mildred Pierce,” betraying Emma for vapid reasons.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
The contacts didn’t show Xiao was betraying his commitments, Gannon replied, arguing the employees in question were lower-level staff, who may have operated without Xiao’s knowledge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Over a century ago, when the Supreme Court helped usher in Jim Crow, Justice John Marshall Harlan took his colleagues to task for betraying the promise of Reconstruction.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
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.
