Dictionary

insider en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɪnsaɪdɚ/ (General-American)
• /ɪnˈsaɪdɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle English ynneside English inside Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English insider From inside + -er.

Meanings

1. A person who has special knowledge about the inner workings of a group, organization, or institution.
   • That, as one of my more sceptical industry insiders put it, is because there is a reluctance to commit funds to any of these plans - and we can put the blame firmly on the fact that HS2 is eating up £7bn per year for the whole term of this parliament. 2026 March 18, Christian Wolmar, “Wales sets example with long-term rail strategy”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 43:
   • Heavy losses were sustained in Simms Petroleum, which took a greater toll from supposed "Wall Street insiders" than from the general public. 1923 July 2, “‘Big Board’ Failures”, in Time:
   • He is also an astute ANC insider who spent ten years on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela and the other “grandees” of the movement. 2007 December 19, Jonathan Clayton, “Profile: Zuma charmed wives and a nation”, in Times of London, UK:
   • Near-synonyms: initiate, old hand, habitué
   • In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other stuff. 2018 July 31, Julia Carrie Wong, “What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian:
2. A person who is within an enclosed space.
   • To the insider, the ceiling is like a small firmament twinkling with astral radiations. 1849, Herman Melville, chapter 33, in Redburn: His First Voyage. […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

outsider

Deriveds

insider trade · insiderism · noninsider · insiderly · insider trading · insiderish · insidery · insiderdom · insiderness · insider baseball · insider dealing

Descendants

インサイダー · Insider · insider · insider

Relateds

outgroup · out-group · in-group · ingroup

Synonyms

initiate · old hand · habitué

Translations (33)

ka ინსაიდერი (person who has special knowledge) · es adentrino (person who has special knowledge) · he אִישׁ סוֹד (person who has special knowledge) · hu beavatott (person who has special knowledge) · ja インサイダー (person who has special knowledge) · hu bennfentes (person who has special knowledge) · ko 내부자 (person who has special knowledge) · ja 内部の人 (person who has special knowledge) · hu benn/bent ülő (person who is within an enclosed space) · it addetto ai lavori (person who has special knowledge) · be інса́йдэр (person who has special knowledge) · ru свой челове́к (person who has special knowledge) · hu belsős (person who has special knowledge) · de Insider (person who has special knowledge) · id orang dalam (person who has special knowledge) · ru инса́йдер (person who has special knowledge) · es insider (insáider) (person who has special knowledge) · de Eingeweihter (person who has special knowledge) · it basista (person who has special knowledge) · es dentreño (person who has special knowledge) · ko 인사이더 (person who has special knowledge) · it internato (person who is within an enclosed space) · fr initié (person who has special knowledge) · fi sisällä oleva (person who is within an enclosed space) · nl insider (person who has special knowledge) · uk інса́йдер (person who has special knowledge) · it iniziato (person who has special knowledge) · cmn 內部的人 /内部的人 (person who has special knowledge) · de Eingeweihte (person who has special knowledge) · fi sisäpiiriläinen (person who has special knowledge) · es adentreño (person who has special knowledge) · nl ingewijde (person who has special knowledge) · sv insider (person who has special knowledge)