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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of informants
The Justice Department accuses the group of fraud in connection with its payments to informants.
—
Ella Lee, The Hill, 6 May 2026
Greylord was a watershed 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, 4 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
The Justice Department is focusing on how the SPLC secretly paid informants working inside the Ku Klux Klan and other organizations the SPLC viewed as white supremacy and hate groups.
—Beth Gazley, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026
The 11-count indictment alleges that the civil rights nonprofit organization, best known for its work to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, lied to donors about paying confidential informants to infiltrate hate groups and deceived banks about the bank accounts used to make those payments.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
Ella Lee, The Hill, 6 May 2026
Greylord was a watershed 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, 4 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
The Justice Department is focusing on how the SPLC secretly paid informants working inside the Ku Klux Klan and other organizations the SPLC viewed as white supremacy and hate groups.
—Beth Gazley, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026
The 11-count indictment alleges that the civil rights nonprofit organization, best known for its work to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, lied to donors about paying confidential informants to infiltrate hate groups and deceived banks about the bank accounts used to make those payments.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for informants
informers
Noun
-
And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Security services also rely on informers to tell them who might be using Starlink, and search internet and social media traffic for signs it has been used.—
David Rising,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Informants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/informants. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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