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Glite Dictionary
saboteur

saboteur

20 8.3
A person who damages things on purpose to hurt a group or country
  • noun
  • /ˌsæbəˈtɜr/
translation icon : saboteador
  • During World War II, a Japanese American saboteur could try to evade imprisonment by pretending to be Chinese.
  • spies and saboteurs

And so the fact that he seems a little more genuine and then the the needle moves and you see, wow, this person's actually like a saboteur.

Examples

  • I've got the saboteur cornered in Rains' bootlegging parlor.

    The Outsider (1997)

  • The undercover agent discovered that the saboteur had planted explosives at the factory during the night.

  • It's the voice of the saboteur that is trying to stop me from doing this creative thing.

  • And now the saboteurs return home and look who they turn out to be.

  • I read that in a magazine about how the saboteurs work.

    Winning (1969)

  • Your men are the saboteurs of our social order.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I have just found out that I have saboteurs in the tower.

    Super Mario Bros. (1993)

  • Well, Walters, looks like we've got our saboteur.

    Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

  • More nests of conspirators and saboteurs have been uncovered... and further arrests are expected shortly.

    Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

  • Another group, known as hunt saboteurs, disrupts fox and deer hunting, traditionally pastimes of the elite.

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

bomber
vssaboteur
  • NSFW
129 5.1

A person who plants or sets off bombs to cause harm

often covers nonexplosive or subtle deliberate damage used for political or military ends
vandal
vssaboteur
22 4.0

A person who damages public or private property on purpose

has an added political or military motive rather than mere property damage
wrecker
vssaboteur
9 7.4

A person who damages property on purpose to cause trouble

is broader and emphasizes planned political or military disruption not only wrecking
sab
vssaboteur
  • UK
9.9

A person who damages things on purpose to protest

is the full formal term for the same deliberate political destruction
diversionist
vssaboteur
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who damages property or causes trouble on purpose to distract others

focuses on deliberate damage for political or military aims rather than distraction
dynamiter
vssaboteur
8.6

A person who uses dynamite to destroy things

is more general about deliberate political or military disruption, not method specific

Antonyms

protector
129 2.8

A person who defends and cares for another person or thing

How Damaging

terrorist
  • NSFW
747 6.2
insurgent
  • Literature
93 8.6
saboteur
20 8.3
vandal
22 4.0
troublemaker
  • Offensive
69 4.1

Surface Forms

saboteur singular
saboteurs plural

Morphology

saboteur = sabotage (transparent) = sabotage + eur

The word is formed from the known verb 'sabotage' plus the agentive suffix '-eur', so a learner who knows 'sabotage' can infer 'saboteur' = 'one who sabotages'.

Etymology

Saboteur comes from the French word sabot, which means 'wooden shoe'. A memorable story says workers once threw a sabot into machines to stop them, and the French agent -eur turned that action into a person who does it, so a saboteur is someone who damages or destroys things on purpose.