informer
Americannoun
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informers
plural
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a person who informs against another, especially for money or other reward.
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a person who informs or communicates information or news; informant.
noun
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a person who informs against someone, esp a criminal
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a person who provides information
he was the President's financial informer
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of informer
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at inform 1, -er 1
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.
See Examples For:
There is something about a healthy personality that feels repelled by a snoop, a snitch, a stool pigeon, an informer.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2025
He had lived across the street from DeLorean’s home in San Diego County and had turned informer in hopes of leniency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
In 1990, following a police raid on a house during the interrogation of a suspected informer, he and its other members were replaced because the IRA believed the unit had been infiltrated.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2024
A tape was later obtained by the BBC, in which Dignam admitted to being an informer for the British security services.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2024
Maybe Joe Becton, the new director of the Durham Human Relations Commission, moonlighted as a government informer.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
US forces found Maduro because of inside informers, the stepfather said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
It was, Mr. Corera writes, a “dead-end job,” but it offered access to documents that revealed the organization’s dark secrets, such as its labyrinth of informers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
Haggarty was questioned about other informers in the UVF.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023
And as in any prison, the wardens select “trusties” among the prisoners for rewards and to serve as informers.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2023
Black informers began to mushroom all over the place.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
