as in to desert
to leave (a cause or party) often in order to take up another
soldiers defected from the rebel army en masse as the failure of their cause became apparent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defect (from)
Verb
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His paintings capture the rhythms of daily life—women draped in flowing tobes set against stark, open backdrops of the sky or desert in some, bustling market stalls in others.—
Omnia Saed,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025 -
In 2024, annual ticket revenue in the country crashed 23 percent to $5.8 billion, the lowest total in a decade, leaving many in the industry worrying that the country’s youth may have deserted the cinema for good in favor of free forms of mobile entertainment.—
Patrick Brzeski,
The Hollywood Reporter,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Iran later abandoned provisions of the JCPOA and forged ahead with its nuclear program.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
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The administration’s decision to abandon plans to move D.C.’s elite fighter jet squadron to Maryland comes months after the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. Wes Moore (D) worked to secure the planes to prevent the state from losing its flying mission.—
Meagan Flynn,
Baltimore Sun,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Supreme Court Justice Roberts rejects Trump’s call for impeaching a judge who ruled against his deportation plans.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2025
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Gaga rejects a string of Latin suitors — Alejandro, Fernando, Roberto — via melodies that evoke ABBA and Madonna, over a thumping beat, like Ace of Base gone EDM.—
Kristen S. Hé,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Most recently, Ukrainian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighters have been hurling the bombs at bridges in Belgorod Oblast in western Russia, aiming to cut off Russian troops in the oblast’s border region, where Ukrainian brigades have launched small-scale incursions.—
David Axe,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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Bricker was born without legs due to a uterine band cutting off the blood supply to her lower limbs in utero.—
Colson Thayer,
People.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defect (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defect%20%28from%29. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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