Adjacent Words

Turncoat definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TURN'COAT, n. [turn and coat.] One who forsakes his party or principles.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc. [syn: deserter, apostate, renegade, turncoat, recreant, ratter]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1557 one who switches to an opposing side or party; specifically traitor

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a person who changes sides in a conflict, dispute, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Turncoat Turn"coat`, n. One who forsakes his party or his principles; a renegade; an apostate

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(turncoats) If you describe someone as a turncoat, you think they are disloyal or deceitful, because they have left their party or organization and joined an opposing one. N-COUNT [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Apostate, renegade, backslider, deserter.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

One who has changed his party from interested motives.

Moby Thesaurus

Benedict Arnold, Brutus, Judas, Judas Iscariot, Judas-like, Quisling, Trojan-horse, Vicar of Bray, apostate, archtraitor, backslider, betrayer, betraying, bolter, cockatrice, collaborationist, collaborator, conniver, conspirator, conspirer, convert, defector, deserter, double agent, double-crosser, double-crossing, double-dealer, fifth columnist, fifth-column, informer, intrigant, intriguer, machinator, mugwump, plotter, proselyte, quisling, quislingistic, rat, recidivist, recreant, renegade, renegado, renegate, reversionist, runagate, schemer, schismatic, seceder, secessionist, separatist, serpent, snake, spy, straggler, strikebreaker, tergiversant, tergiversator, timeserver, traitor, traitorous, treasonable, treasonist, treasonous, trimmer, turnabout, turntail, two-timing