to betray
56
4.1
- verb
- /bɪˈtreɪ/
- At one point they chose to betray their own country.
- betray an ally
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Watch on YouTubeHe was one of the few people who betrayed his country, Athens.
- He was one of the few people who betrayed his country, Athens.
- So with the, the bottom line is if, if you got one, one of those folks were caught, they could maybe betray four people or three, something like that.
- You never had someone say some line of the phrase or along the lines of like this would be betraying my country.
- He said he who was willing to sacrifice himself rather than betray his comrades would leave no offspring to inherit his noble nature.
- And for a lot of people, you know, there are people who will, who will betray the IRA to actually keep the prestige of being known as an IRA man.
- They ended up there because they were betrayed.
Examples
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He chose to betray his country for personal gain.
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That's why he betrayed Dominic and me to our enemies... ...and sent his own man to Miami to try and kill me.
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You cannot ask me to betray my king.
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Why did you betray your country?!
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He was about to betray his country, Will.
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He would rather die than betray his country.
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He was one of the few people who betrayed his country, Athens.
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The Cilician pirates have betrayed us.
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You betray your country.
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These sources are inconsistent, but it seems that the governor of Aleppo either betrayed his Sultan or was sure that the battle was lost.
Synonyms
291
7.9
To betray someone for personal gain
160
5.9
Betray someone by telling their secrets to others for personal gain
48
6.5
Betray someone who trusts you after pretending to help them
44
8.4
To betray or hurt someone to get an advantage
11
6.6
To secretly betray someone who trusts you
10
8.8
To betray someone to get something for yourself
Antonyms
How Treacherous
56
4.1
- Informal
24
6.8
Surface Forms
Etymology
Betray originally often meant to 'hand over to the enemy', a very direct and physical idea of giving someone away. That's why one meaning of 'betray' is to deliver a person or information to an enemy.