treachery
Americannoun
-
violation of faith; betrayal of trust; treason.
- Antonyms:
- loyalty
-
an act of perfidy, faithlessness, or treason.
noun
-
the act or an instance of wilful betrayal
-
the disposition to betray
Synonym Usage
See disloyalty.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of treachery
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English trecherie, from Middle French, Old French, from trech(ier) “to deceive” ( see trick) + -erie -ery
Explanation
Treachery is trickery, cheating, and deceit, like the treachery of your former friend who only stuck around until he stole your girlfriend and turned the whole grade against you. The noun treachery comes from the Old French word trechier, “to cheat.” Many a corrupt government or dictator has been accused of treachery: deceiving the people and abusing their trust. Greed is a common cause of treachery — with the promise of wealth, people can be tempted to betray their country and even their loved ones, as new celebrities find out when their best friends sell embarrassing secrets to the tabloids.
Vocabulary lists containing treachery
The Call of the Wild
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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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.
“The Treachery of Images,” as the painting is called, also applies to Brussels watering holes these days.
From Washington Times • Oct. 9, 2020
Treachery and deceit are the stuff of theatre, which is where people adopt disguises and tell lies about themselves: is politics any different?
From The Guardian • Sep. 29, 2018
Treachery, he told one interviewer, is the one sin he is incapable of forgiving.
From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2018
Treachery on such an epic scale can bear many retellings, and this account stands out for its impressive detail and scope.
From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2016
Sibling Treachery Closer to home, Cleopatra needed to be on guard for ruthless enemies within her own family.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
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.
