defection

[dih-fek-shuhn]

noun

1. desertion from allegiance, loyalty, duty, or the like; apostasy.

   His defection to East Germany was regarded as treasonable.

   Antonyms: loyalty

2. failure; lack; loss.

   He was overcome by a sudden defection of courage.

defection

/ dɪˈfɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of defecting

2. abandonment of duty, allegiance, principles, etc; backsliding

3. another word for defect defect

Other Word Forms

• nondefection noun
• redefection noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of defection¹

1535–45; < Latin dēfectiōn- (stem of dēfectiō ), equivalent to dēfect ( us ) ( defect ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

But Badenoch dismissed the announcement of the defections as "a stunt".

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Nigel Farage's party has been using the third day of the conference to announce a string of councillor defections to Reform UK.

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She also denied she was "looking over her shoulder" at Nigel Farage, after recent defections from her party to Reform UK.

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There were no new defections during the vote on Wednesday, but if five more Democrats break ranks, the shutdown will end – whether the rest of the Democratic Party wants it to or not.

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There were no immediate roster defections, Skipper saying that every player was accounted for going into one of the team’s longest practices of the season.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• desertion 
• divorce 
• failure 
• rejection 
• revolt 
• withdrawal