CultureJuly 31, 2026

quisling

KWIZ-ling

Definition

A traitor who collaborates with an occupying enemy force, especially by taking a puppet government position.

Etymology

The word is an eponymous term derived from Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian military officer who collaborated with Nazi Germany during their occupation of Norway in World War II.

In the news

In the article, the author uses the term to describe critics who viewed architects trying to preserve modernist buildings as traitors to the original, revolutionary, and intentionally disposable vision of those structures.

Easy Come, Easy Go

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