defection

[ dih-fek-shuhn ]
See synonyms for defection on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. desertion from allegiance, loyalty, duty, or the like; apostasy: His defection to East Germany was regarded as treasonable.

  2. failure; lack; loss: He was overcome by a sudden defection of courage.

Origin of defection

1
1535–45; <Latin dēfectiōn- (stem of dēfectiō), equivalent to dēfect(us) (see defect) + -iōn--ion

Opposites for defection

Other words from defection

  • non·de·fec·tion, noun
  • re·de·fec·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use defection in a sentence

  • In spite of these defections, the experiment was not without effect upon English merchants.

  • Here, at least, was a citadel impregnable by right-hand defections or left-hand extremes.

    Tales and Fantasies | Robert Louis Stevenson
  • There were also defections among the kings, for Amyntas and Deiotarus went over to Cæsar.

  • The "Phases of Faith" describes, it will be remembered, the gradual course of Mr. Newman's defections from his original orthodoxy.

    Studies of Christianity | James Martineau
  • Once when Noemi was relating to Jeanne certain defections, certain acts of coldness, she suddenly burst into tears.

    The Saint | Antonio Fogazzaro

British Dictionary definitions for defection

defection

/ (dɪˈfɛkʃən) /


noun
  1. the act or an instance of defecting

  2. abandonment of duty, allegiance, principles, etc; backsliding

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012