informant

American  

[in-fawr-muhnt] / ɪnˈfɔr mənt /

noun

1. a person who informs inform or gives information; informer.

   Synonyms:

   tipster, adviser, source

2. a person who supplies social or cultural data in answer to the questions of an investigator.

3. Linguistics. a native speaker of a language who supplies utterances and forms for one analyzing or learning the language.

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informant British  

/ ɪnˈfɔːmənt /

noun

1. a person who gives information about a thing, a subject being studied, etc

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Etymology

Origin of informant

1655–65; < Latin infōrmant- (stem of infōrmāns ) present participle of infōrmāre. See inform ¹, -ant

Example Sentences

They argued that the two men to whom he sent the messages were unlikely to carry out a murder—a federal informant with a bad back and a fellow union carpenter with no criminal history.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

Paul Hare, a former British ambassador to Cuba and Venezuela, argued that Cuban intelligence underestimated US access to "insider cooperation in Venezuela" -- an informant within Maduro's camp.

From Barron's • Jan. 10, 2026

A spokesperson for the department said the office also conducts annual audits with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for custodial informant files to make sure records on both ends are complying with policy.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025

Earlier this year, MI5 was forced to apologise after the BBC proved it gave false evidence to three courts in a case concerning a neo-Nazi state informant known as Agent X.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025

Perhaps most damagingly, two private eyes, including one from the Burns agency, tried to expose the bureau’s main informant, Kelsie Morrison.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann