deserters
Troops gone AWOL
Deserters are people who abandon a duty, post, or cause—most often soldiers who flee military service without permission.
The term carries strong disapproval, implying betrayal of obligations to comrades or country.
Beyond military contexts, deserters may abandon political movements, organizations, or relationships: The party's deserters joined the opposition.
Army deserters faced execution if caught.
Absent without permission
- court-martialArmed forces judicial proceeding
- defectionAbandoning one's loyalty
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
- enlistmentVoluntary entry into service
insubordination · platoon · regiment · battalion · infantry · barracks · uniform · absentee
Deserter of a cause
- mutineerSailor who revolts
- rebelAuthority defier
- dissenterOpponent of orthodoxy
- insurgentOne who revolts
defector · apostate · secessionist · revolutionary · dissident · nonconformist · insubordinate · insurrectionist
One who betrays allegiance
- turncoatOne who betrays allegiance
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
quisling · backstabber · double-crosser · collaborator · Judas · perfidious · traitorous · recreant
Flee to avoid capture
- fleeDepart swiftly from threat
- escapeFlight from captivity
- boltThreaded rod for nuts
- vanishCease to be visible
disappear · fugitive · runaway · hideaway · evade · elude · wanted · sought
Rejected, shunned person
- exileBanishment from homeland
- outcastShunned, rejected person
- ostracizedExcluded from a group
- disgracedBrought into shame
dishonored · shunned · banished · stigmatized · scorned · condemned · reviled · shamed
AWOL
Absent without permission
- court-martialArmed forces judicial proceeding
- defectionAbandoning one's loyalty
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
enlistment · insubordination · platoon · regiment · battalion · infantry · barracks · uniform · absentee · warfare
renegade
Deserter of a cause
insurgent · defector · apostate · secessionist · revolutionary · dissident · nonconformist · insubordinate · insurrectionist · resistance
traitor
One who betrays allegiance
treachery · quisling · backstabber · double-crosser · collaborator · Judas · perfidious · traitorous · recreant · informant
abscond
Flee to avoid capture
vanish · disappear · fugitive · runaway · hideaway · evade · elude · wanted · sought · manhunt
pariah
Rejected, shunned person
- exileBanishment from homeland
- outcastShunned, rejected person
- ostracizedExcluded from a group
disgraced · dishonored · shunned · banished · stigmatized · scorned · condemned · reviled · shamed · branded
- militarysoldiers, army, troops, officers, navy
- military historybattles, soldiers, campaigns, officers, battlefields
- insurgentsinsurgent, guerrillas, guerrilla, rebel, resistance fighters
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
- WWItrenches, no man's land, no mans land, trench warfare, armistice
- armiesdivisions, battalions, corps, soldiers, platoons
- deserted islandLandmass without inhabitants
- deserted streetsThoroughfares without people
- deserted beach
- deserted townUninhabited former settlement
- deserted villageSettlement without inhabitants