as in informers
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the FBI is working closely with informants to find out about the subversive group
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Recent Examples of informants
One of the agency’s informants attended the wedding, as a guest.
—
Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Police learned in September that Garnett was selling meth and made several purchases of meth from Garnett using confidential informants, according to a probable cause affidavit.
—Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2025
Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the company’s cameras and accompanying Neighbors app have heightened the risk of racial profiling and turned residents into informants, with few guardrails around how law enforcement can use the material.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
Sanders had uncovered in 2014 that Rackauckas’ prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies for years had illegally used jailhouse informants to coax confessions from defendants who had attorneys, in violation of their right to counsel.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
Kentucky's vast wilderness and mountainous regions served as hideaways for bootleggers, Rein said, while the government used paid informants to sniff them out.
—Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 16 Sep. 2025
In 1985, Tortora was accused by several alleged ex-mobsters turned informants and state witnesses of being part of a Neapolitan crime syndicate dedicated to drug trafficking.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
Breyer barred troops from such actions, including making arrests, searches, acting as informants and collecting evidence.
—Olga R. Rodriguez, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
Records systems used by the Department of Justice and defense counsels have been breached, according to Politico, and the hack could expose highly sensitive information on informants, witnesses and sealed cases.
—Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Police learned in September that Garnett was selling meth and made several purchases of meth from Garnett using confidential informants, according to a probable cause affidavit.
—Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2025
Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the company’s cameras and accompanying Neighbors app have heightened the risk of racial profiling and turned residents into informants, with few guardrails around how law enforcement can use the material.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2025
Sanders had uncovered in 2014 that Rackauckas’ prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies for years had illegally used jailhouse informants to coax confessions from defendants who had attorneys, in violation of their right to counsel.
—Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
Kentucky's vast wilderness and mountainous regions served as hideaways for bootleggers, Rein said, while the government used paid informants to sniff them out.
—Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 16 Sep. 2025
In 1985, Tortora was accused by several alleged ex-mobsters turned informants and state witnesses of being part of a Neapolitan crime syndicate dedicated to drug trafficking.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
Breyer barred troops from such actions, including making arrests, searches, acting as informants and collecting evidence.
—Olga R. Rodriguez, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
Records systems used by the Department of Justice and defense counsels have been breached, according to Politico, and the hack could expose highly sensitive information on informants, witnesses and sealed cases.
—Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Informants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/informants. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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