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
Greylord was a watershed moment in its use of eavesdropping devices and a mole to obtain evidence instead of relying on wrongdoers to become government informants.
—
Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2026
The charges do not stem from the general practice of paying informants but from the Justice Department's allegations that the SPLC made these payments without disclosing the practice to donors and by defrauding banks.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Sandweg said one of the director's most underappreciated responsibilities is managing that internal fault line, ensuring that ERO's highly visible arrest operations do not undermine HSI's ability to cultivate the confidential informants and foreign partnerships on which its work depends.
—Philip Wang, Time, 18 May 2026
The Justice Department accuses the group of fraud in connection with its payments to informants.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 6 May 2026
Paying informants is not a crime, and the government has provided no evidence that the SPLC’s donors were duped about the SPLC’s practice of sending such payments, which is the foundation of the wire-fraud allegation.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
In addition to ignoring glaring inconsistencies in the sole eyewitness account, Kuby said prosecutors illegally hid from the defense benefits provided to the girl’s mom and buried evidence identifying the true killer provided by informants, who came forward years after the trial.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors said the group misled donors by using their money to pay informants who served as leaders in the very hate groups the organization was founded to fight.
—ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026
Federal prosecutors in Alabama secured an 11-count indictment accusing the organization of paying millions of dollars to some of those undercover informants and hiding the real purpose of the payments from its donors.
—Josh Meyer, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2026
The charges do not stem from the general practice of paying informants but from the Justice Department's allegations that the SPLC made these payments without disclosing the practice to donors and by defrauding banks.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Sandweg said one of the director's most underappreciated responsibilities is managing that internal fault line, ensuring that ERO's highly visible arrest operations do not undermine HSI's ability to cultivate the confidential informants and foreign partnerships on which its work depends.
—Philip Wang, Time, 18 May 2026
The Justice Department accuses the group of fraud in connection with its payments to informants.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 6 May 2026
Paying informants is not a crime, and the government has provided no evidence that the SPLC’s donors were duped about the SPLC’s practice of sending such payments, which is the foundation of the wire-fraud allegation.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
In addition to ignoring glaring inconsistencies in the sole eyewitness account, Kuby said prosecutors illegally hid from the defense benefits provided to the girl’s mom and buried evidence identifying the true killer provided by informants, who came forward years after the trial.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors said the group misled donors by using their money to pay informants who served as leaders in the very hate groups the organization was founded to fight.
—ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026
Federal prosecutors in Alabama secured an 11-count indictment accusing the organization of paying millions of dollars to some of those undercover informants and hiding the real purpose of the payments from its donors.
—Josh Meyer, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for informants
informers
Noun
-
One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.—
Abraham Jiménez Enoa,
The Dial,
19 May 2026
-
And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Informants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/informants. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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