defector

American  

[dih-fek-ter] / dɪˈfɛk tər /

noun

1. a person who defects from a cause, country, alliance, etc.

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Other Word Forms

• nondefector
  noun
• redefector
  noun

Etymology

Origin of defector

1655–65; < Latin dēfector renegade, rebel, equivalent to dēfec- (variant stem of dēficere to become disaffected, revolt, literally, to fail; see defect) + -tor -tor

Explanation

A person who quits something, despite a perceived duty or obligation, is a defector. If you abandon the Boston Red Sox to root for the New York Yankees instead, your fellow Bostonians will consider you a defector. In politics, defectors abandon their home countries and claim allegiance to another. A person can only be a defector if the first state forbids such a change and considers it illegal or illegitimate, as the government of North Korea does when one of its citizens leaves the country. Abandoning a military post also makes someone a defector. In your life, you're more likely to be considered a defector (by some) if you change political parties or stop being a vegetarian.

Example Sentences

Defector Brooks Koepka skulked back to the PGA Tour, accepting penalties for going astray.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Within days, similar reports appeared on The Verge and Defector.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

Blackbears President Pat Johnson told Defector that Billings had backed out because their players claimed that the “field was unsafe,” in part because of the use of a rodeo fence to mark the area’s boundaries.

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2024

I hope Michael Greshko’s Neiman prediction is right, and that science journalism is truly “having its Defector moment.”

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2023

Ms. Yearwood’s articles for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, Defector, Mother Jones and other outlets established her as a prominent and empathetic voice of the unhoused, as she called homeless people.

From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2023

Related Words

• deserter
• renegade
• turncoat