insider
Americannoun
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insiders
plural
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a person who is a member of a group, organization, society, etc.
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a person belonging to a limited circle of persons who understand the actual facts in a situation or share private knowledge.
Insiders knew that the president would veto the bill.
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a person who has some special advantage or influence.
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a person in possession of corporate information not generally available to the public, as a director, an accountant, or other officer or employee of a corporation.
noun
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a member of a specified group
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a person with access to exclusive information
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of insider
Explanation
An insider is someone, usually one of a small group, who has access to secret or private information. A political insider knows what really goes on behind the scenes in a campaign or a senator's office. In a large company, insiders are privy to financial information or details about the way things work — information that isn't available to an ordinary employee or the general public. In the financial world, an insider knows things about the businesses whose stock is being traded, and "insider trading" is when they illicitly use this information for personal gain.
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:
He said the traditional approach to mitigating insider risk relies on verifying someone’s identity and then trusting that what they do afterward is legitimate, which can miss cases where the threat develops over time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Gunaydin said it was "clear" Kaya had received insider information and pledged that the party would unveil more names this week.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
An insider guide to the ever-changing world of theme parks, coming to you straight from SoCal — the theme park capital of the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
"He just loves being prime minister," a government insider observes.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
It is interesting, in that light, to note that the outsider’s invective is typically more stern and solemn: an insider, more comfortable reading the audience’s social codes, can risk a joke.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Even the platform formerly known as Twitter is enjoying something of a renaissance, with Musk's X now the go-to social media app for Silicon Valley insiders and the main marketplace for talk about artificial intelligence.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
He is also concerned at the selling among company insiders this year at tech names such as Amazon, Nvidia and Tesla.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Some Vatican insiders think Leo's illness might "shift his priorities", meaning fewer trips and more appointments, Corre said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
At the moment it is a greenfield site, but insiders say there should be no difficulties completing the project by 2030.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Don’t be so dramatic. I think they want experienced insiders to do stories that are about more than just the number of Biafran dead.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
