informant
noun
in·for·mant
in-ˈfȯr-mənt 
: a person who gives information: such as
a
: informer
b
: one who supplies cultural or linguistic data in response to interrogation by an investigator
Examples of informant in a Sentence
The police were alerted to the plot by a paid informant.
We learned the language with the help of a native informant.
Recent Examples on the Web
He was accused of sending Snapchat messages to his brother and a friend who turned out to be a longtime government informant.
—
CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
White newspaper editors were routinely imprisoned or forced to become police informants.
—Eve Fairbanks, The Dial, 27 Jan. 2026
Prosecution failures At the center of the misconduct in the Smith case was the prosecution team’s failure to disclose the use of jailhouse informants Jeffrey Platt and Paul Martin to extract a confession from Smith.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 26 Jan. 2026
Hobart Police Detective Wendell Hite wrote that police dropped off a criminal informant outside the mall to buy drugs from Larkin in a black Lincoln in the parking lot.
—Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for informant
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CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
White newspaper editors were routinely imprisoned or forced to become police informants.
—Eve Fairbanks, The Dial, 27 Jan. 2026
Prosecution failures At the center of the misconduct in the Smith case was the prosecution team’s failure to disclose the use of jailhouse informants Jeffrey Platt and Paul Martin to extract a confession from Smith.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 26 Jan. 2026
Hobart Police Detective Wendell Hite wrote that police dropped off a criminal informant outside the mall to buy drugs from Larkin in a black Lincoln in the parking lot.
—Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for informant
Cite this Entry
“Informant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/informant. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
informant
noun
in·for·mant
in-ˈfȯr-mənt
: informer
Legal Definition
informant
noun
in·for·mant
in-ˈfȯr-mənt
: one who informs against another
specifically
: one who makes a practice especially for money of informing police of others' criminal activities
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