I know that "defect" can signify "leave one's country or political party, and join another", but, is this like a "betray"? "These refugees have no idea but to defect to another country ".....Has this word a negative sense or positive ?
"Defect" used this way is not like "betray" although some people may consider a defection to be a betrayal. It can have a positive or negative connotation depending on which side of it you are on. If a French agent "defects" to ISIL (just to grab a recent headline), I expect the French to see that as a negative and ISIL to see that as positive.
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mark noble
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Thu 9 Oct, 2014 09:20 am
@Arafat ,
It depends on the author of the report.
If I witnessed refugees fleeing to an alternate country - I would report it as such - "Fleeing, flee, fled"
How you paint a picture directs the observer.
To 'defect' implies switching loyalties.
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InfraBlue
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Thu 9 Oct, 2014 10:44 am
I feel that the word does have a negative connotation simply because of the negative definitional words like "abandonment" and "disowning."
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Arafat
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Thu 9 Oct, 2014 11:58 am
Thanks for the answers , I think that the word has both positive and negative meaning.