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:
To believe that even good women might see their minds betray them so spectacularly would be to rescind control over an entire ideology that helps organize your world.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
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
Albuquerque in New Mexico is his base now - something his accent and phraseology sometimes betray - but Edinburgh will always be home.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Over mint tea, Mr. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha speaks with the precision of a man who has watched history vindicate and betray his dynasty in equal measure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
I was terrified that Momma would betray me and tell Grandma the real reason I was staying home.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
The facade of the building betrays no affiliation—neither hammer nor sickle.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
While voters’ choices have been, more often than not, defensible, the unanimity betrays a lack of imagination and drains any hint of drama from the ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
But the size of the spending betrays how worried they are about people power.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
That narrative betrays a rookie mistake that’s known among statisticians as the “gambler’s fallacy.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Eager to prove his seriousness, he rarely betrays any emotion.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Some of the exiled had betrayed Britain decades earlier, their names allegedly appearing on a “naughty list” in the Soviet Embassy in London “in the wake of 1989.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
“That was when everything exploded. On a personal level, we felt betrayed, but on a broader level, we felt treasoned,” he told me.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
"He feels Harry has betrayed him. He's made that clear."
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
“It was just a safe place for us to change. And he betrayed our trust,” he added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Feeling betrayed by his allies, Fidel Castro refused to even meet with the Soviet ambassador in Havana.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
He said Simms did the right thing by not betraying his friendship with Shanahan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 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
Alas, the results are mixed, betraying the stark limits of this approach and the need for a kind of history that fully integrates anguished medieval chronicles with modern molecular evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"Our justice system is betraying victims and survivors," said Eshghi.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
“It’s not funny, Colin. Accusing my mother and brother of betraying England is offensive. And preposterous. Willa and Jakob despise Hitler.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
