betray
//bɪˈtɹeɪ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- betray
- past (v2)
- betrayed
- past participle (v3)
- betrayed
- present participle
- betraying
- 3rd person singular
- betrays
Definitions
1.To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly.
- He betrayed his own sister to the secret police.
- An officer betrayed the city.
2.To prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive.
- Quresh betrayed Sunil to marry Nuzhat.
- My eyes have been betraying me since I turned sixty.
3.To violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or that which one is bound in honor not to make known.
4.To disclose (a secret, etc.) in deliberate violation of someone’s confidence.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4778
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English betrayen, bitrayen (“to commit an act of treason against”), equivalent to be- + tray (“to betray”).