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:
The potential for insider trading to occur has also been raised.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
United Nations insider Rebeca Grynspan was leading in the first round of the process to pick the next UN chief that began Thursday, diplomatic sources told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
One former insider told BBC Sport that anyone who comes from City "knows what good looks like".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Large amounts of insider buying at four tech-sector companies support a bullish view on the group.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Whether or not their deaths were intentional, these two men had done what no other sumo insider had previously done: named names.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
SpaceX’s earnings report next week could unleash a further wave of selling, as some insiders will soon be able to unload shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“Technically, that can be an excess benefit transaction on its own,” Hackney said, referring to the IRS category that triggers taxes on compensation paid to nonprofit insiders above fair market value.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
Corporate insiders are more bearish than they have been in decades.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Only scouts and insiders were aware of a skinny winger who had previously played for Florida-based DME Academy, more renowned for its basketball programme.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Washington insiders knew it had to be someone among the select few who had access to McNamara’s study—and someone who had turned against the war.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
