traitorous

adjective

ˈtrā-tə-rəs How to pronounce traitorous (audio)
Definition of traitorousnext
as in false
not true in one's allegiance to someone or something when our coach took a job at a rival college, a few traitorous players went right along with him

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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How is the word traitorous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of traitorous are disloyal, faithless, false, perfidious, and treacherous. While all these words mean "untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance," traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust.

traitorous acts punishable by death

Where would disloyal be a reasonable alternative to traitorous?

The words disloyal and traitorous can be used in similar contexts, but disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country.

disloyal to their country

When could faithless be used to replace traitorous?

The words faithless and traitorous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty.

faithless allies

When is it sensible to use false instead of traitorous?

While in some cases nearly identical to traitorous, false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery.

betrayed by false friends

How do perfidious and faithless relate to one another, in the sense of traitorous?

Perfidious adds to faithless the implication of an incapacity for fidelity or reliability.

a perfidious double-crosser

In what contexts can treacherous take the place of traitorous?

Although the words treacherous and traitorous have much in common, treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence.

a treacherous adviser

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of traitorous Simultaneously, Hal is on a call with President Rayburn to brief him on Penn's traitorous schemes. —Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024 Assassinations first target Republicans deemed traitorous. —Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024 But seeing the speed with which Homelander zaps a hole in one traitorous employee’s head scares her into staying. —Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 13 June 2024 Amid this chaos, Penn shows up in London, subtly manipulating British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) into keeping the whole traitorous scheme under wraps. —Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for traitorous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traitorous
  1. false
  2. treacherous
  3. unreliable
  4. disloyal
  5. perfidious
  6. faithless
  7. unfaithful
  8. untrue
Adjective
  • In those documents, West discussed not only how to conduct experiments to implant false memories, instill specific mental disorders, and induce trance states, but also how to hide them.
    — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2025
  • To illustrate, in the United Kingdom vaccinations took a considerable dip in the early 2000s after Wakefield’ false claims of a link between the MMR shot and autism were posted in the media.
    — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
Definition of false
Adjective
  • Whiteout conditions are possible and could make travel conditions treacherous and potentially life-threatening.
    — Forum News Service, Twin Cities, 4 Mar. 2025
  • The climate, meanwhile, continues on a treacherous path of warming.
    — Brent Crane, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2025
Definition of treacherous
Adjective
  • Weldon has also shared unreliable claims about reproductive health.
    — Chantelle Lee, TIME, 12 Mar. 2025
  • In a press briefing, the NTSB shared the investigation's initial findings on potential unreliable data recording and an Air Traffic Control communications issue that led to the crash.
    — Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2025
Definition of unreliable
Adjective
  • She’s hurt by a lover’s betrayal, but more hurt that her suspicions of his disloyal nature were proven right from the beginning.
    — Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Any policy that deviates from the central government’s could be seen as politically disloyal.
    — Vivian Wang, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Definition of disloyal
Adjective
  • Jake Gyllenhaal is his foil as the perfidious Iago, who goads Othello into unreasoning jealousy with lies about his beloved Desdemona (Molly Osborne).
    — New York Times, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Since then, Putin has sought instead to rally the public to the defense of a motherland besieged by the perfidious and cunning West.
    — Leon Aron, The Atlantic, 5 Dec. 2024
Definition of perfidious
Adjective
  • Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro are both quite good as part of a team that’s tasked with stealing a secret document, setting the stage for a drama involving gangsters, faithless lovers, and white-collar crooks.
    — Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Once lost, now found, Ms. Brady offered the closing prayer as the smell of meatloaf promised lunch for the faithful and faithless alike.
    — Moriah Ratner, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024
Definition of faithless
Adjective
  • The New Yorker story alleged that Willingham had a reputation for drinking too much, being unfaithful and physically abusing Stacy.
    — Emily Blackwood, People.com, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Medieval scholars – all men – defined women’s temperament in negative terms: Women were libidinous, frivolous, unfaithful, capricious, unpredictable and easily tempted.
    — Joelle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025
Definition of unfaithful
Adjective
  • Idaho investigated and determined the claims were untrue.
    — Carolyn Komatsoulis, Idaho Statesman, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Some Democrats protested by walking out on Trump while others held up placards decrying some of his controversial statements that fact-checkers called untrue.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 5 Mar. 2025
Definition of untrue

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Cite this Entry

“Traitorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traitorous. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.

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