What does delator mean?
A delator is a person who informs against another — an accuser who denounces someone to an authority, especially a government or court. The word is formal and literary, appearing far more often in historical writing than in daily conversation, and it carries distinctly negative connotations: a delator implies not a legitimate whistleblower but someone who betrays others, frequently for money or favour. Its strongest associations are with ancient Rome, where professional informers known as delatores flourished under the emperors, accusing citizens of treason and collecting a share of the condemned's property as their reward. Modern usage tends to describe informers under authoritarian regimes or in literary accounts of surveillance and betrayal. Related forms include 'delation', meaning the act of denouncing, and the now-rare verb 'delate'. For readers encountering the word, it is best understood simply as a formal, pejorative synonym for 'informer'.
nounA person who informs against another; an informer or accuser, especially one who denounces someone to the authorities.
- One who informs against another; an informer or denunciator.
"The regime's prisons were filled on the testimony of a single anonymous delator."
"The conspiracy collapsed when a delator within the group reported the plot to the police."
"Under the dictatorship, even close friends feared being denounced by some eager delator."
Standard English plural; the Latin plural 'delatores' occasionally appears in historical writing about Rome.
"The city was riddled with delators reporting every whisper of dissent."
In ancient Rome, 'delator' named a profession so despised that informers were officially ranked among society's most dishonourable people — yet the rewards could make them rich.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of delator
Delator comes directly from Latin dēlātor, meaning 'an informer' or 'one who brings charges', derived from the verb dēferre ('to bring down, carry away, or report'), formed from dē- ('down, away') plus ferre ('to carry'). The same Latin verb ferre lies at the heart of many English words borrowed via Latin and French, including 'transfer', 'refer', and 'confer'. The word entered English in the early modern period, largely through scholarly and legal writing about Roman history, where the delatores of the imperial era were notorious figures.
Related word forms
How delator is actually used
Formal and literary in register; rare in everyday modern English. The word carries strongly negative connotations of treachery and betrayal, and is often used in historical or political contexts describing authoritarian regimes.
Easily confused with delator
A dilator is something that widens or expands a passage of the body (or a slow person), while a delator is a person who informs against others.