stoolie

noun

ˈstü-lē How to pronounce stoolie (audio)
Definition of stoolienext
as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing told the mule that if he ever turned stoolie, he'd end up spilling his guts in more ways than one

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stoolie At one point my head was whipped back and forth like a mafia stoolie being slapped silly by his don. — Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stoolie
  1. informant
  2. informer
  3. canary
  4. rat
Noun
  • Diiorio tried to pay a confidential informant to kill her ex-boyfriend, a Philadelphia police officer, and his then 19-year-old daughter, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey first reported in April 2025.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Among the cooperating witnesses expected to testify is Joseph Vincent, a former Drug Enforcement Administration informant who did not testify in the first trial.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of informant
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
Definition of informer
Noun
  • Dollywood thus became our Disneyland — from the Tennessee Tornado to the Wild Eagle to the Mystery Mine with the dead canary collapsing before the big drop.
    — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Interspersed throughout the myriad activations of Monterey Car Week is the most important facet for the collector community, and that’s the array of auctions that serve as either an optimistic barometer reading or an ailing canary in the coal mine.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • The rock kids, the funk kids, the disco-ers, the club rats are all fleetingly conjoined by one pair of highly attuned ears loitering on the streets.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Moore begins with a whisper and builds to a roar as Mona improvises a manic rant that involves rats and the plague.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of rat

Browse Nearby Words

stool
stoolie
stoolies
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stoolie.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stoolie. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of empirical

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All