Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

collaborator

American  
[kuh-lab-uh-rey-ter] / kəˈlæb əˌreɪ tər /

noun

  1. a person who works or cooperates with another on something; a coauthor, coproducer, etc..

    She is currently at work on a new recording project with longtime collaborator Greg Timson.

  2. a person who cooperates with an enemy nation or force, especially with an enemy occupying one’s country.

    Her book gives a detailed account of postwar Poland’s legal retribution against its Nazi collaborators.


Etymology

Origin of collaborator

First recorded in 1800–10; from French collaborateur, equivalent to Late Latin collabōrāt(us) (past participle of collabōrāre ) + -or 2 ( def. ); collaborate ( def. )

Vocabulary lists containing collaborator

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here, a fifth collaborator, producer Scotty Hard, played an integral role.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

For many of the tracks on “Halo,” Day would start off with a producing collaborator and finish on her own: “They’ll usually send me home with the Ableton file, then I get to freak it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Behind the camera, Jacobs’ friend and occasional creative collaborator, Sofia Coppola, asks whether they’re favoring a serious look, or something more eccentric — in line with Jacobs’ reputation.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Having a tier-1 cloud solutions provider as both a lead client and a collaborator “brings the entire CPU program the much-needed credibility,” analysts wrote.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Abernathy was Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest collaborator and had inherited the mantle of his Poor People’s Campaign, the second phase of the civil rights movement.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly