defector
One who abandons
A defector is someone who abandons a country, cause, or organization to join an opposing one.
The word carries Cold War associations—Soviet ballet dancers defecting to the West, diplomats seeking asylum—but applies broadly to anyone who switches allegiances: The party lost several defectors to the opposition.
Unlike a deserter, who simply leaves, a defector joins the other side.
One who betrays allegiance
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
- betrayerOne who breaks allegiance
- spyCovert information gatherer
- informerOne who reveals secrets
collaborator · quisling · Judas · sellout · backstabber · rat · mole · treacherous
Banishment from homeland
- asylumShelter from persecution
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- expatriateOne living abroad permanently
- deporteePerson forcibly removed abroad
displaced · refugee · migrant · immigrant · outcast · stateless · resettlement · relocation
One fleeing authorities
- AWOLAbsent without permission
- runawayOne who flees
- absconderOne who flees secretly
- escapeeOne who fled confinement
mutineer · abandoner · dropout · quitter · flee · escape · disappear · vanish
Of the USSR
- KGBUSSR intelligence service
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
- MI6UK espionage agency
- StasiEast German secret police
Berlin · repatriation · intelligence · debriefing · handler · safehouse · extraction · sleeper
One who provides intelligence
- leakerOne who discloses secrets
- insiderOne with confidential access
- exposerOne who uncovers hidden things
- disclosureAct of revealing information
testimony · evidence · classified · secrets · revelations · sanctuary · protection · journalist
Authority defier
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- refusenikDeliberate noncomplier
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
protest · regime · ideology · propaganda · persecution · surveillance · repression · underground
turncoat
One who betrays allegiance
informer · collaborator · quisling · Judas · sellout · backstabber · rat · mole · treacherous · treason
exile
Banishment from homeland
- asylumShelter from persecution
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- expatriateOne living abroad permanently
deportee · displaced · refugee · migrant · immigrant · outcast · stateless · resettlement · relocation · repatriation
fugitive
One fleeing authorities
escapee · mutineer · abandoner · dropout · quitter · flee · escape · disappear · vanish · bolt
Soviet
Of the USSR
Stasi · Berlin · repatriation · intelligence · debriefing · handler · safehouse · extraction · sleeper · asset
informant
One who provides intelligence
- leakerOne who discloses secrets
- insiderOne with confidential access
- exposerOne who uncovers hidden things
disclosure · testimony · evidence · classified · secrets · revelations · sanctuary · protection · journalist · encryption
rebel
Authority defier
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- refusenikDeliberate noncomplier
resistance · protest · regime · ideology · propaganda · persecution · surveillance · repression · underground · samizdat
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- Spies and Traitorsspy, mole, traitor, double agents, moles
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- Spy Fictionspy, secret agent, double agent, MI6, CIA
- betrayalbackstab, betray, betrayal, traitor, backstabber
- Traitorstraitor, turncoat, betrayer, Judas, Benedict Arnold
defectorapparatchik
Blindly devoted official
party loyalist · insider · collaborator · nationalist · propagandist
- birth defectsAbnormalities present from delivery
- hidden defectsFaults not immediately visible
- heart defectAbnormality in blood-pumping organ
- congenital defectAbnormality present at birth
- factory defect
- defective productsItems with manufacturing flaws
defect, defective, defects, defection, defecting, defected, defectors, defections