draft dodger

American  

noun

1. a person who evades or attempts to evade compulsory military service.

---

draft dodger British  

noun

1. one who evades compulsory military service

---

draft dodger Cultural  

1. Someone who illegally evades the draft, as opposed to a conscientious objector, who is granted official, legal exemption from military duty. In active protest against United States involvement in the Vietnam War, many Americans publicly burned draft registration cards, risking imprisonment; others fled to other countries, such as Canada.

---

Etymology

Origin of draft dodger

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Park has been living in the country as what the military authorities consider a draft dodger.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2025

The term "draft dodger" lingers, but it became popular during WW II when there were, literally, able bodied men who hid out.

From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2017

But having left without doing mandatory military service, he looked to German authorities like a draft dodger and faced threats of deportation, said Paul, the historian.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2016

In 2013, he wrote on his blog that had begun his life as “a draft dodger and anti-war activist” while his classmates “walked off that stage and stepped directly into the Vietnam War.”

From Washington Times • Mar. 5, 2016

After calling in sick, he hopped into his newly purchased car and drove off to meet his friend Bill Wernecke, a fervent Nazi supporter and an expert draft dodger.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• absentee