🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

saboteur

Pronunciation / Transliteration: sa-bo-tœʁ

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Saboteur/ˌsæb.əˈtɜːr/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14200 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Le saboteur a été arrêté par la police."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A person who deliberately destroys, damages, or obstructs material, production, or activities, typically for political, economic, or malicious advantage.

    "The security team caught the saboteur attempting to corrupt the main server files."
  2. 2

    Someone who ruins or undermines a plan, project, or relationship through covert disruptive actions.

    "She realized that her own self-doubt was her worst saboteur when preparing for the interview."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the French word 'saboteur', stemming from 'saboter' (to walk noisily with wooden shoes called 'sabots', or to bungle work), which gained modern political and industrial meaning during the late 19th and early 20th century labor strikes when disgruntled workers damaged machinery. Over time, the term evolved to metaphorically describe any individual who intentionally obstructs, damages, or ruins a process, system, or reputation from within.

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