crisis actor
Americannoun
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a professional or volunteer actor who plays a role in a staged drill in order to prepare or train first responders for a specific emergency scenario.
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(in a false flag conspiracy theory) a person pretending to be a victim in a hoax attack.
Etymology
Origin of crisis actor
First recorded in 1975–80 in the sense “independent person, group, or state that engages in disruptive or hostile verbal or physical behavior in international relations”; crisis actor defs. 1, 2 were first recorded in 2010–15
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.
In the aftermath of the Sydney attack, online users circulated an authentic image of one of the survivors, falsely claiming he was a "crisis actor," disinformation watchdog NewsGuard reported.
From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025
The day after the shooting he accused one of the grieving parents who made a televised statement on behalf of the families, Robbie Parker, of being a crisis actor.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2024
Soto Parisi described seeing social media comments claiming that she was a crisis actor, that her sister wasn’t shot or didn’t exist, and that the massacre never happened.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2022
She said people had claimed she was a "crisis actor" paid to attend the vigil and get arrested to legitimise attacks on the police.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2021
“I’m getting hang up calls, I’m getting some calls, I’m getting emails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor, ‘how much am I being paid’?”
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
