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Synonyms

intelligencer

American  
[in-tel-i-juhn-ser] / ɪnˈtɛl ɪ dʒən sər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that conveys information.

  2. an informer; spy.


intelligencer British  
/ ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənsə /

noun

  1. archaic an informant or spy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of intelligencer

First recorded in 1570–80; intelligence + -er 2

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:

The former minister told Aluko she had already spoken about his "general behaviour, acquisition of assets, etc, asking you to be careful because intelligencer will start following you".

From BBC Feb. 24, 2026

Marlowe, we think, worked as a secret agent or "intelligencer" in the proto-secret service that Francis Walsingham set up for Elizabeth I, and in all likelihood conducted espionage abroad.

From The Guardian Oct. 15, 2010

Shakespeare speaks of Richard as "hell's black intelligencer," "that bottled spider, this poisonous bunch-back'd toad."

From Time Magazine Archive

This circumstance gives me to guess who this intelligencer is: Joseph Leman: the very creature employed and confided in, more than any other, by my brother.

From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 2 by Samuel Richardson

With all his fortunes darkened for a day,— And the eye o' his reason, sweet intelligencer, Under a beggarly patch....

From One-Act Plays By Modern Authors by Various

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