Meanings
verbbetray (third-person singular simple present betrays, present participle betraying, simple past and past participle betrayed)
present singular third person betrays · participle present betraying · participle past betrayed · past betrayed
- transitiveTo prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive.
to betray a person or a cause
3 more examples
Quresh betrayed Sunil to marry Nuzhat.
My eyes have been betraying me since I turned sixty.
I maruell I heare no nevves of Dromio, either hee ſlackes the matter, or betrayes his maiſter, I dare not motion anie thing to Stellio, till I knovve vvhat my boy hath don; Ile hunt him out, if the loiterſacke be gone ſpringing into a tauerne, Ile fetch him reeling out.
c. 1590 (date written), [John Lyly], Mother Bombie. […], London: […] Thomas Scarlet for Cuthbert Burby, published 1594, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signature C3, versoSynonyms: sell, quisle, traitorize
- transitiveTo violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or that which one is bound in honor not to make known.
- transitiveTo disclose (a secret, etc.) in deliberate violation of someone’s confidence.
The dead leap at the throat, destroy The meaning of the day; dark forms Have scaled your walls, and spies betray Old secrets to amorphous swarms.
1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 4Synonyms: give away
- transitiveTo disclose or indicate, for example something which prudence would conceal; to reveal unintentionally.
Though he had lived in England for many years, a faint accent betrayed his Swedish origin.
2 more examples
Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast [Josh] Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core.
2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The A.V. ClubAgain, to take a less extreme example, there is no denying that although the dialects of northern France retained their fundamentally Romance character, they betray many Germanic influences in phonetics and vocabulary, […]
1966, Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch, French rural historySynonyms: give away
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive.
Similar
verbTo disclose (a secret, etc.) in deliberate violation of someone’s confidence.
Similar
verbTo disclose or indicate, for example something which prudence would conceal; to reveal unintentionally.
Similar
Opposite
Narrower
More synonyms by meaning
verbbe sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage
verbgive away information about somebody
Broader
Also see
assfuckbewrayburncheatcheat oncop outcross outcross upcuckolddeceivedenouncedo someone dirtydo the dirty ondouble-crossexposefailfalsegive awaygo back ongrassknifelead astraylet downplay someone falsequisleratrenegaderevealsellsell downsell down the riversell outsell the passshitshopsnitchstab in the backstagsurrenderswiketell ontraitorizeturncoatunveilwander
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁epi“at, near”
- Proto-Germanic*bi“near, by”
- Proto-Germanic*bi-“be-”
- Old Englishbe-“be-”
- Middle Englishbetrayen
- Englishbetray
From Middle English betrayen, bitrayen (“to commit an act of treason against”), equivalent to be- + tray (“to betray”). Middle English bi- is from Old English be- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at, near”). Compare also traitor, treason, tradition. The modern sense “to disclose, discover, reveal unintentionally” is due to influence from or merger with English bewray (“to reveal, divulge”), which is similar in sound and meaning. The similarity with German betrügen, Dutch bedriegen, from Proto-West Germanic *bidreugan (“to betray, deceive”), is coincidental.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παραδίδωμι
- παραδίδωμι (paradídōmi)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
Arabic خانَ
- خانَ (ḵāna)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
Basque saldu
- salduto deliver into the hands of an enemy
Bengali বিশ্বাসঘাতকতা করা
- বিশ্বাসঘাতকতা করা (biśśaśoghatkota kora)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
Bulgarian предава́м, изневерявам
- предава́м (predavám)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- изневерявам (izneverjavam)to prove faithless or treacherous
- измамвам (izmamvam)to prove faithless or treacherous
- издавам (izdavam)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- разкривам (razkrivam)to disclose or discover
Catalan trair, trair
- trairto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- trairto prove faithless or treacherous
- trairto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- demostrarto show or to indicate
- confondreto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- trairto lead astray, as a maiden
- delatarto disclose or discover
Chinese Mandarin 背叛, 出賣 /出卖
- 背叛 (bèipàn)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 出賣 /出卖 (chūmài)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 叛賣 /叛卖 (pànmài)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 背叛 (bèipàn)to prove faithless or treacherous
- 背棄 /背弃 (bèiqì)to prove faithless or treacherous
- 辜負 /辜负 (gūfù)to prove faithless or treacherous
- 違反信任 /违反信任 (wéifǎn xìnrèn)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- 泄露秘密 (xièlù mìmì)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- 顯露 /显露 (xiǎnlù)to show or to indicate
- 泄露 (xièlù)to show or to indicate
- 誤導 /误导 (wùdǎo)to mislead, to lead into error or sin
- 誘騙 /诱骗 (yòupiàn)to lead astray, as a maiden
Czech zradit
- zraditto deliver into the hands of an enemy
Danish forråde, forråde
- forrådeto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- forrådeto prove faithless or treacherous
- svigeto prove faithless or treacherous
- forrådeto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- røbeto disclose or discover
Dutch verraden, verraden
- verradento deliver into the hands of an enemy
- verradento prove faithless or treacherous
- verradento violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- verradento show or to indicate
- bedriegento lead astray, as a maiden
- verradento disclose or discover
- onthullento disclose or discover
- versprekento disclose or discover
Esperanto perfidi
- perfidito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Estonian reetma
- reetmato deliver into the hands of an enemy
Finnish kavaltaa, pettää
- kavaltaato deliver into the hands of an enemy
- pettääto prove faithless or treacherous
- pettääto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- kavaltaato violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- paljastaato show or to indicate
- pettääto show or to indicate
- vietelläto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- pettääto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- vietelläto lead astray, as a maiden
- pettääto lead astray, as a maiden
- paljastaato disclose or discover
- kavaltaato disclose or discover
French trahir, livrer
- trahirto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- livrerto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- trahirto prove faithless or treacherous
- trahirto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
German verraten, im Stich lassen
- verratento deliver into the hands of an enemy
- im Stich lassento prove faithless or treacherous
- verratento violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- verratento show or to indicate
- von etwas zeugento show or to indicate
- verleitento mislead, to lead into error or sin
- vom rechten Weg abbringento mislead, to lead into error or sin
- irreführento mislead, to lead into error or sin
- verführento lead astray, as a maiden
- sitzenlassento lead astray, as a maiden
- verratento disclose or discover
Greek προδίδω, προδίδω
- προδίδω (prodído)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- προδίδω (prodído)to prove faithless or treacherous
Hebrew הִסְגִּיר, בָּגַד
- הִסְגִּיר (hisgír)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- בָּגַד (bagád)to prove faithless or treacherous
- בָּגַד (bagád)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
Hindi धोखा देना, धोका देना
- धोखा देना (dhokhā denā)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- धोका देना (dhokā denā)to prove faithless or treacherous
- धोखा देना (dhokhā denā)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
Hungarian elárul, elárul
- elárulto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- elárulto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- elárulto disclose or discover
Icelandic svíkja
- svíkjato deliver into the hands of an enemy
Indonesian mengkhianati
- mengkhianatito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Italian consegnare, tradire
- consegnareto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- tradireto prove faithless or treacherous
- tradireto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- rivelareto show or to indicate
- tradireto lead astray, as a maiden
- rivelareto disclose or discover
Japanese 裏切る, 反逆する
- 裏切る (uragiru)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 反逆する (hangyaku suru)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 裏切る (uragiru)to prove faithless or treacherous
- 売る (uru)to prove faithless or treacherous
- 漏らす (morasu)to show or to indicate
Korean 배반하다, 배신하다
- 배반하다 (baebanhada)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- 배신하다 (baesinhada)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
Latin prōdō, prōdō
- prōdōto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- prōdōto prove faithless or treacherous
- prōdōto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- dēferōto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- mōnstrō dēmōnstrōto show or to indicate
- in errōrem dūcōto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- dēcipiōto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- dētegōto disclose or discover
- prōdōto disclose or discover
- oleōto disclose or discover
Latvian nodot
- nodotto deliver into the hands of an enemy
Lithuanian išduoti
- išduotito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Malay belot, khianat
- belotto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- khianatto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- mengkhianatito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Māori kaikaiwaiū, whakamoho
- kaikaiwaiūto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- whakamohoto prove faithless or treacherous
Norwegian Bokmål forråde
- forrådeto deliver into the hands of an enemy
Persian خیانت کردن, لو دادن
- خیانت کردن (xiyânat kardan)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- لو دادن (low dâdan)to disclose or discover
Polish wydać, zdradzić
- wydaćto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- zdradzićto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- zdradzićto prove faithless or treacherous
Portuguese trair, trair
- trairto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- trairto prove faithless or treacherous
- trairto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- revelarto disclose or discover
Romanian trăda, trăda
- trădato deliver into the hands of an enemy
- trădato prove faithless or treacherous
- trădato violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- a induce în eroareto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- a îndruma greșitto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- descoperito disclose or discover
- aflato disclose or discover
Russian предава́ть, преда́ть
- предава́ть (predavátʹ)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- преда́ть (predátʹ)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- выдава́ть (vydavátʹ)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- вы́дать (výdatʹ)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- предава́ть (predavátʹ)to prove faithless or treacherous
- преда́ть (predátʹ)to prove faithless or treacherous
- предава́ть (predavátʹ)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- преда́ть (predátʹ)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- выдава́ть (vydavátʹ)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- вы́дать (výdatʹ)to violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- выдава́ть (vydavátʹ)to show or to indicate
- вы́дать (výdatʹ)to show or to indicate
Slovak zradiť
- zradiťto deliver into the hands of an enemy
Spanish traicionar, entregar
- traicionarto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- entregarto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- venderto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- traicionarto prove faithless or treacherous
- delatarto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- demostrarto show or to indicate
- mostrarto show or to indicate
- confundirto mislead, to lead into error or sin
- engañarto lead astray, as a maiden
- delatarto disclose or discover
- demostrarto disclose or discover
Swahili kusaliti
- kusalitito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Swedish förråda, svika
- förrådato deliver into the hands of an enemy
- svikato deliver into the hands of an enemy
- förrådato prove faithless or treacherous
- svikato prove faithless or treacherous
- förrådato violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- svikato violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- bedragato lead astray, as a maiden
- bedrato lead astray, as a maiden
- vilseledato lead astray, as a maiden
Thai ทรยศ, หักหลัง
- ทรยศ (tɔɔ-rá-yót)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- หักหลัง (hàk-lǎng)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- ทรยศ (tɔɔ-rá-yót)to prove faithless or treacherous
- หักหลัง (hàk-lǎng)to prove faithless or treacherous
Turkish ihanet etmek, ihanet etmek
- ihanet etmekto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- ihanet etmekto prove faithless or treacherous
- ihanet etmekto violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret
- ele vermekto disclose or discover
Ukrainian зра́джувати, зра́дити
- зра́джувати (zrádžuvaty)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- зра́дити (zrádyty)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
- зра́джувати (zrádžuvaty)to prove faithless or treacherous
- зра́дити (zrádyty)to prove faithless or treacherous
Urdu دھوکا دینا
- دھوکا دینا (dhokā denā)to deliver into the hands of an enemy
Vietnamese bội phản, phản bội
- bội phảnto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- phản bộito deliver into the hands of an enemy
Welsh bradu, bradu
- braduto deliver into the hands of an enemy
- braduto prove faithless or treacherous
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with betray
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
betray. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betray
MLA
“betray.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betray. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “betray,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betray.
Source: betray on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.