draft dodger

American  

noun

1. a person who evades or attempts to evade compulsory military service.

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draft dodger British  

noun

1. one who evades compulsory military service

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draft dodger Cultural  

1. Someone who illegally evades the draft, as opposed to a conscientious objector, who is granted official, legal exemption from military duty. In active protest against United States involvement in the Vietnam War, many Americans publicly burned draft registration cards, risking imprisonment; others fled to other countries, such as Canada.

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Etymology

Origin of draft dodger

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

It was Ali who was the rebel, and people considered him a draft dodger.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2024

Though he was sometimes labeled a draft dodger, he was very much the opposite.

From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2023

Moreover, as Risen documents, it established this son of a wealthy Civil War draft dodger as the embodiment of America’s emergence as a world power.

From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2019

In 2013, he wrote on his blog that had begun his life as “a draft dodger and anti-war activist” while his classmates “walked off that stage and stepped directly into the Vietnam War.”

From Washington Times • Mar. 5, 2016

After calling in sick, he hopped into his newly purchased car and drove off to meet his friend Bill Wernecke, a fervent Nazi supporter and an expert draft dodger.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• absentee