Dictionary

informant en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈfɔɹmənt/ (US)
• /ɪnˈfɔːmənt/ (UK)
• (UK) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English inform Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -āns Old French -antbor. Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ant English -ant English informant From inform + -ant.

Meanings

1. One who relays confidential information to someone, especially to the police; an informer.
   • One of her chief informants is Alicent’s handmaiden Talya (Alexis Rabin), whose inside info runs so deep that she’s the first to catch wind of Viserys’ death. 2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV Club:
   • Shortly after Amy went missing, an informant told investigators that a member of the Pagans Outlaw Motorcycle Club had bragged about snatching a girl matching Amy’s description in Coconut Grove. 2026 July 29, Nicholas Muhoro, “Amy Billig Vanished While Hitchhiking Through Coconut Grove. Then the Calls Began”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2026:
2. (in the US and Canada, proscribed) A native speaker who acts as a linguistic reference for a language being studied. The informant demonstrates native pronunciation, provides grammaticality judgments regarding linguistic well-formedness, and may also explain cultural references and other important contextual information.
   • The only material the linguist has to begin with are the informant's grammatical utterances in the target language pronounced arbitrarily in a natural or assigned communicative situation or stimulated artificially by the investigator. 1977, A. E. Kibrik, The methodology of field investigations in linguistics:
   • The informant learns his language by formal training and, more importantly, by constant exposure to its use. He cannot repeat to the linguist what he has never seen or heard. 2003, Sergei Nirenburg, H. L. Somers, Yorick Wilks, Readings in machine translation, page 116:

Forms

Deriveds

misinformant · multiinformant · confidential informant · disinformant

Hypernyms

betrayer

Relateds

rat out · name names · gossiper

Synonyms

gossip · sycophant · canary · sneak · informer · snitch · telltale · whistleblower · tout · stool pigeon · beefer · finger · nark · fink · telltale tit · outer · bigmouth · mole · CI · stoolie · rooster · fizgig · rat · informant · quisling · stooge · supergrass · accuser · nonce · tattletale · blabtale · peacher · abaddon · tattler · snout · blabtongue · narc · bewrayer · blabber · grass · leak · jurat · squealer · consultant · ratfink · state's evidence

Translations (66)

pl informator (one who relays confidential information) · cmn 線人 /线人 (one who relays confidential information) · fr informateur (one who relays confidential information) · ar مُخْبِرة (one who relays confidential information) · mi kaiwhāki (one who relays confidential information) · mi kaiwhakaatu (one who relays confidential information) · fi kielenopas (lingustics: native speaker who acts as a reference) · bg информа́тор (one who relays confidential information) · da informant (one who relays confidential information) · ro informator (one who relays confidential information) · la dēlātor (one who relays confidential information) · id narasumber (one who relays confidential information) · it spia (one who relays confidential information) · bg доно́сничка (one who relays confidential information) · cmn 提供消息的人 (one who relays confidential information) · ja インフォーマント (one who relays confidential information) · bg доно́сник (one who relays confidential information) · cs informátorka (one who relays confidential information) · pt delator (one who relays confidential information) · tl tagahimaton (one who relays confidential information) · fi ilmiantaja (one who relays confidential information) · mk кодош (one who relays confidential information) · ru осведоми́тель (one who relays confidential information) · de Informant (one who relays confidential information) · hu besúgó (one who relays confidential information) · hu adatközlő (lingustics: native speaker who acts as a reference) · be інфарма́тарка (one who relays confidential information) · eo informanto (one who relays confidential information) · mk доушник (one who relays confidential information) · hu adatszolgáltató (lingustics: native speaker who acts as a reference) · cs informátor (one who relays confidential information) · el πληροφοριοδότης (one who relays confidential information) · fi informantti (one who relays confidential information) · it delatore (one who relays confidential information) · uk інформа́торка (one who relays confidential information) · fr informatrice (one who relays confidential information) · he רֶגֶל (one who relays confidential information) · cmn 檢舉人 /检举人 (one who relays confidential information) · cmn 舉報人 /举报人 (one who relays confidential information) · sk informátor (one who relays confidential information) · tl impormante (one who relays confidential information) · ar مُخْبِر (lingustics: native speaker who acts as a reference) · pt informante (one who relays confidential information) · be інфарма́тар (one who relays confidential information) · sk informátorka (one who relays confidential information) · ru информа́тор (one who relays confidential information) · ckb ئاگادار (one who relays confidential information) · id informan (one who relays confidential information) · ar مُخْبِر (one who relays confidential information) · bg информа́торка (one who relays confidential information) · fa مخبر (one who relays confidential information) · fi informantti (lingustics: native speaker who acts as a reference) · hi गुप्तचर (one who relays confidential information) · uk інформа́тор (one who relays confidential information) · ro informatoare (one who relays confidential information) · ru осведоми́тельница (one who relays confidential information) · pl informatorka (one who relays confidential information) · grc συκοφάντης (one who relays confidential information) · cmn 告密者 (one who relays confidential information) · es informante (one who relays confidential information) · fi tiedonantaja (one who relays confidential information) · it informatore (one who relays confidential information) · ja 情報提供者 (one who relays confidential information) · bg доно́сница (one who relays confidential information) · de Informantin (one who relays confidential information) · ang melda (one who relays confidential information)