quisling
noun
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Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian army officer who in 1933 founded Norway's fascist party. In December 1939, he met with Adolf Hitler and urged him to occupy Norway. Following the German invasion of April 1940, Quisling served as a figurehead in the puppet government set up by the German occupation forces, and his linguistic fate was sealed. Before the end of 1940, quisling was being used generically in English to refer to any traitor. Winston Churchill, George Orwell, and H. G. Wells used it in their wartime writings. Quisling lived to see his name thus immortalized, but not much longer. He was executed for treason soon after the liberation of Norway in 1945.
Synonyms
- apostate
- backstabber
- betrayer
- double-crosser
- double-dealer
- Judas
- recreant
- serpent
- snake
- traitor
- turncoat
Example Sentences
David Z. Morris, Slate Magazine, 6 June 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. vanityfair.com, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. Graydon Carter, The Hive, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. vanityfair.com, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. Graydon Carter, The Hive, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. vanityfair.com, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. vanityfair.com, 18 May 2017 The Republican rank and file, or at least the more aware ones—that’s excluding quislings like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan—are already eyeing the exits. Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 18 May 2017 See More Word History
Vidkun Quisling †1945 Norwegian politician who collaborated with the Nazis
1940, in the meaning defined above
quisling
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- traitor
- turncoat
- backstabber
- betrayer
- collaborationist
- double-dealer
- apostate
- double-crosser
- collaborator
- subverter
- Judas
- renegade
- subversive
- conspirator
- intriguer
- snake
- recreant
- sellout
- schemer
- serpent
- informer
- deserter
- informant
- accommodationist
- coconspirator
- plotter
- defector
- snitch
- squealer
- snitcher
- gossipmonger
- blabbermouth
- gossiper
- tattletale
- talker
- stool pigeon
- tattler
- rumormonger
- rat
- talebearer
- telltale
- gossip
- gets even (for)
- gets even for
- gets going
- gets hold of
- gets in
- gets in touch with
- gets off
- gets off (on)
- gets off on
- gets on
- gets on (to)
- gets on one's nerves
- gets on to
- gets one's act together
- gets one's goat
- gets out
- gets round
- gets round (to)
- gets round to
- gets short of breath
- gets somewhere
- gets the better of
- gets the hang of
- gets the hump
- gets there