defector
Other forms: defectors
A person who quits something, despite a perceived duty or obligation, is a defector. If you abandon the Boston Red Sox to root for the New York Yankees instead, your fellow Bostonians will consider you a defector.
In politics, defectors abandon their home countries and claim allegiance to another. A person can only be a defector if the first state forbids such a change and considers it illegal or illegitimate, as the government of North Korea does when one of its citizens leaves the country. Abandoning a military post also makes someone a defector. In your life, you're more likely to be considered a defector (by some) if you change political parties or stop being a vegetarian.
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a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post)synonyms: desertertypes:deviationistan ideological defector from the party line (especially from orthodox communism)renegadesomeone who rebels and becomes an outlawwalk-inan operative who initiates his own defection (usually to a hostile country) for political asylum
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Vocabulary lists containing defector
This list covers The Giver, "Nothing to Envy," and A Thousand Cranes.
Stories about Wimbledon disruptors, movie stars on strike, and the sound of silence all contributed words to this list of vocabulary from the week's news.
Stories about smelly crickets, an ancient fossil, and expensive orange juice all contributed words to this list of vocabulary from the week's news.