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Iris
What do you usually call such a person in one word?
A person who cheats or betrays friends, colleagues because they know all about them as they usually confide in them all their views, plans and problems.
My Russian- English dictionary gives me "scum","villain","scoundrel","vile creature", but I'm not sure that you use those words talking about such people.
I'm looking for common informal words.
May 2, 2015 4:22 PM
Answers · 18
1
There are many synonyms (common informal nouns) which can be used to describe someone who talks badly about other people and who may cheat or lie. Here are a few of the synonyms (in order from bad to worst)
gossip
big mouth
blabbermouth
tattletale
troublemaker
liar
backstabber
backbiter
fink
rat
snitch
squealer
stool pigeon
May 2, 2015
1
I'm not sure where the above commenter is from, but in the UK/USA etc 'rascal' and 'bugger' are not words commonly used - at least, not by young people.
Traitor (noun) is the word that definitely makes most sense.. I know here in Ireland people say that such a person is 'sly' (adjective), and I'm pretty sure that is a word used commonly in the UK also - I am not sure about the USA as I have never lived there.
May 2, 2015
In this case, the word I would use would be "manipulative."
May 2, 2015
If the problem is that the person betrays their trust,
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tattletale
among the synonims, snitch and rat in an urban environment.
May 2, 2015
People (the nouns describing people usually preceeded by "a/an") who do harm to other people, steal their ideas, ruin their plans, and do other immoral things may be called:
cheats
lowlifes
thieves
crooks
scoundrels
criminals
turncoats
traitors
savages
bad actors
adulterers
aggressor
agitator
animal
antagonist
bastard
bigot
brute
bully
bum
cheater
coward
deadbeat
deceiver
degenerate
delinquent
deviate
devil
dog
faker
false-friend
gangster
hoodlum
lawbreaker
menace
misfit
money-grubber
monster
obstructionist
opportunist
outcast
pervert
pest
phony
pig
predator
profiteer
protagonist
psychopath
punk
savage
scoundrel
scum
sinner
slut
snake
stinker
thief
tormentor
tough
trash
troublemaker
two-timer
user
vandal
weasel
worm
There are also many negative adjectives describing people's personalities.
May 2, 2015
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Iris
Language Skills
English, Russian
Learning Language
English
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