betray
Stab the back
To betray is to be disloyal to someone who trusts you—revealing secrets, breaking faith, or acting against their interests: He betrayed his country by passing documents to foreign agents.
The word extends to unintentional disclosure: a trembling voice betrays nervousness, a glance betrays hidden feelings.
To betray a cause or principle is to abandon it: The compromise betrayed everything we stood for.
Deliberate breach of trust
- double-crossTreacherous deception of partner
- backstabBetray someone's trust
- selloutCompromiser of integrity
- JudasArchetypal betrayer name
turncoat · quisling · double-dealing · conspiracy · sedition · subversion · espionage · sabotage
Betraying a partner's trust
- faithlessUntrustworthy, lacking loyalty
- disloyalUntrue to commitments
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
apostate · recreant · fickle · inconstant · two-faced · duplicitous · untrustworthy · desert
One who tells authorities
- tattleReveal another's wrongdoing
- ratRodent or informer
- informGive facts to
- whistleblowReport illicit activity internally
squeal · grass · narc · turncoat · collaborator · mole · spy · informer
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
- adulteryMarried person's sexual betrayal
- cuckoldBetrayed spouse, specifically male
- extramaritalOutside the marriage bond
lover · mistress · paramour · fling · liaison · tryst · philanderer · two-timing
perfidy
Deliberate breach of trust
- double-crossTreacherous deception of partner
- backstabBetray someone's trust
- selloutCompromiser of integrity
Judas · turncoat · quisling · double-dealing · conspiracy · sedition · subversion · espionage · sabotage · defection
unfaithful
Betraying a partner's trust
defector · apostate · recreant · fickle · inconstant · two-faced · duplicitous · untrustworthy · desert · abandon
snitch
One who tells authorities
whistleblow · squeal · grass · narc · turncoat · collaborator · mole · spy · informer · denounce
affair
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
- adulteryMarried person's sexual betrayal
- cuckoldBetrayed spouse, specifically male
extramarital · lover · mistress · paramour · fling · liaison · tryst · philanderer · two-timing · unfaithfulness
violation
Breaking of rules
- trustConfidence in another
- confidentialityQuality of protecting secrets
- oathFormal binding promise
contract · agreement · promise · duty · loyalty · bond · commitment · security · privacy · protocol
expose
Make known publicly
divulge · leak · give-away · show · manifest · indicate · telltale · slip · blurt · unwitting
- betrayalbackstab, backstabber, double-cross, treachery, disloyalty
- dirty tacticsdirty trick, dirty tricks, dirty pool, foul play, cheap shot
- social actionsinteract, communicate, connect, socialize, engage
- defectiondefection, defect, defector, turncoat, desertion
- social lifefriend, family, group, relationship, community
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- betrayal of trustBreaking promised loyalty
- family betrayalDisloyalty among kin
- love and betrayalDevotion paired with its violation
- betrayal traumaDistress when depended-upon harms
- betrayal arcStory of broken loyalty
- betrayal storyStory featuring disloyalty
betrayal, betrayer, betrayed, betrays, betraying, betrayals, betrayers