deserter

B2 Topic:War & Conflict

US /dɪˈzɝtɚ/ UK /dɪˈzɜːtə/ See IPA manual

Freq #16521

Meanings

1

noun
a member of the armed forces who leaves a post or service without permission and intends not to return

The soldier was arrested as a deserter after crossing the border in civilian clothes.
2

noun
a person who abandons a cause, organization, duty, or companion, especially disloyally

Party leaders branded him a deserter after he joined their opponents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a member of the armed... military fugitiveabsconder

2 noun · a person who abandons a... defector turncoat renegade

Opposites

loyalist adherent

Word family

Forms deserters

Related forms desert desertion abandonment defection

Etymology

Formed in the seventeenth century from desert ("abandon") + -er, on the pattern of French deserteur. Desert in this sense comes from Latin deserere ("forsake, abandon"); it is historically distinct in pronunciation and meaning from the noun desert for an arid region.

Topics

War & Conflict

External links

# deserter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈzɝtɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈzɜːtə/
**Frequency rank:** 16521

## Meanings
1. a member of the armed forces who leaves a post or service without permission and intends not to return
2. a person who abandons a cause, organization, duty, or companion, especially disloyally

## Examples
- The soldier was arrested as a deserter after crossing the border in civilian clothes.
- Party leaders branded him a deserter after he joined their opponents.

## Synonyms
- military fugitive
- absconder
- defector
- turncoat
- renegade

## Antonyms
- loyalist
- adherent

## Related Forms
- desert
- desertion
- abandonment
- defection

## Etymology
Formed in the seventeenth century from desert ("abandon") + -er, on the pattern of French deserteur. Desert in this sense comes from Latin deserere ("forsake, abandon"); it is historically distinct in pronunciation and meaning from the noun desert for an arid region.

## Topics
- War & Conflict

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