Words / Q / General

quisling

noun/ˈkwɪzlɪŋ/

C2CEFR level
88/100Rarity: very rare
FormalRegister

A traitor who collaborates with an occupying enemy force.

Once liberation came, the quislings who had served the occupiers were swiftly rounded up.

Similar: collaborator, traitor, turncoat

Origin: From Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian who collaborated with Nazi Germany.

Topic: treachery in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: treachery