saboteur
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of saboteur
1920–25; < French, equivalent to sabot ( er ) to botch ( sabotage ) + -eur -eur
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.
But they also assume anyone who disagrees with them is incompetent, delusional or even a saboteur, so they reject their opinions and ideas out of hand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
But, like a slinky saboteur, RNA from that same hub may wind its way to all the other hubs.
From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023
In other fighting, Ukraine said it had thwarted an attempt overnight by a Russian eight-member saboteur group to cross its northeastern border in the Sumy region.
From Reuters • Oct. 12, 2023
Ukrainian agencies, Ton-That said, have used the app to confirm the identities of people at military checkpoints and to check whether a Ukrainian is a possible Russian infiltrator or saboteur.
From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2022
To the FBI every radio owner was a poten-tial saboteur.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
