renegades

Meanings

1. 1nounpluraldisapproving

   People who abandon their group, party or beliefs and often join the opposing side.

   Grammar: Plural of renegade: the renegades left the party.

   Patterns

   • renegades from something

   The renegades left the party and formed a rival movement.

   Soldiers who changed sides were treated as renegades by their old comrades.

   Several renegades from the union supported the company's offer.

2. 2nounpluralinformalapproving

   People who reject accepted rules and behave in their own independent, rebellious way.

   Grammar: Plural; tone can be admiring.

   The chefs were culinary renegades who ignored every traditional recipe.

   A group of renegades in the lab tested the idea against all advice.

Word forms

Common combinations

a band of renegades

A band of renegades attacked the supply convoy.

political renegades

The party expelled the political renegades.

renegades from the movement

Renegades from the movement published their own manifesto.

treated as renegades

They were treated as renegades for questioning the leader.

Synonyms and how they differ

defectors

Defectors specifically leave one side to join another, often a country, so renegades is wider in meaning.

traitors

Traitors betray their side and the word is almost always strongly condemning.

rebels

Rebels resist authority and need not have belonged to a group they abandon.

mavericks

Mavericks are independent thinkers and carry a more admiring tone than renegades.

Opposites

Word family

renegade noun

a person who deserts a group or cause

renegade adjective

rebellious or unconventional

renege verb

to break a promise

Commonly confused: renegades or renegotiate?

Practice

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