betray
Americanverb (used with object)
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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:
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
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
"We need to make sure we do not betray that trust and we need to deliver for the people of Sunderland and for Washington and Houghton," he said.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
But that’s precisely what interests me: the coded way in which people are talking about this may betray something darker about our culture.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
“How dare you betray me in this way?”
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
The Wrap said "at times it betrays its amateur beginnings with clunky plotting."
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
Her eyes dart up and down in a manner that betrays rote memorization, not scholarship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
The tension running through the campaign betrays a regime unsettled by the prospect of life after an octogenarian president.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
McAdams, by contrast, makes a giddy racket that betrays feelings her characters can neither fully understand nor contain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
If the person is left-handed, like Abuela Celia, the right side of her face betrays her true feelings.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
I can see why your friend felt betrayed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
"These events raise profound questions about the integrity and independence of the review process. Bereaved families deserve complete transparency," he said, adding that he felt "profoundly betrayed" by the Amos review.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
"I feel like the Kenyan government and Alfred Mutua have betrayed us," she added, speaking from her home in the Kakamega region of western Kenya.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
We’d expect to hear something similar from Redick — whose poker face isn’t as good as Barbarez’s, whose small sigh and slight smile betrayed his only emotions during his postgame news conference Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
David Lawson, a seventy-year-old American whose accent betrayed his Scottish birth, was one of the spectators that night.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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
In his lawsuit, Musk accuses OpenAI of betraying its original nonprofit mission and misappropriating his founding donations totalling $38 million to build an empire valued at over $850 billion.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
This reasoning assumes a healthy, functioning democracy where politicians earn trust and legitimacy, and then are held accountable for betraying it.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2026
The binder turned out to contain nothing new and he along with others involved in the stunt were accused of betraying the movement.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
She was afraid of betraying her longing, in case it all should come to nothing.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
