saboteur

[ sab-uh-tur ]

noun

1. a person who commits or practices sabotage.

saboteur

/ ˌsæbəˈtɜː /

noun

1. a person who commits sabotage

Word History and Origins

Origin of saboteur¹

1920–25; < French, equivalent to sabot ( er ) to botch ( sabotage ) + -eur -eur

Word History and Origins

Origin of saboteur¹

C20: from French; see sabotage

Example Sentences

The diplomats who carried out these orders thought of themselves not as saboteurs but patriots.

From Time

The show follows Sy as Assane Diop, the son of a Senegalese immigrant, who takes up a life as a thief and Bond-esque saboteur in order to exact revenge on the wealthy family responsible for his father’s death.

From Quartz

Over the course of a convincingly dreary London winter, a love triangle forms, with David in the role of underminer and saboteur.

From The Daily Beast

But this much I can say: the catastrophic results of that man's actions could not have been worse if he had been a saboteur.

From Project Gutenberg

If a worker is badly paid and returns bad work for bad pay, he is a saboteur.

From Project Gutenberg

In other words, the saboteur abandons mass action in favor of ineffective and futile assaults upon men or property.

From Project Gutenberg

"The saboteur—seven men that I believe to be saboteurs—are aboard Hot Rod," the captain told him crisply.

From Project Gutenberg

I wonder what kind of a court martial they give a hero who turns out to be a saboteur.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adversary
• agent
• antagonist
• attacker
• bandit
• competitor
• criminal
• detractor
• foe
• guerrilla
• invader
• murderer
• opponent
• opposition
• prosecutor
• rebel
• rival
• spy
• terrorist
• traitor