What does informant mean?
An informant is a person who gives information to another person or institution. Its common modern sense is someone who secretly supplies police, investigators, or government bodies with facts, evidence, or leads, often in exchange for protection or other benefits. The term can sound cautious and procedural, while the circumstances may also suggest secrecy, danger, or divided loyalty. In linguistics, an informant is a participant who provides a researcher with examples of language use. More generally, the word means any person who is a source of knowledge, though this broad use is less frequent than the law-enforcement sense. The word is useful because it specifies the speaker’s role rather than merely describing what someone says. A report might quote an informant, a witness, or an expert, and these choices imply different kinds of knowledge and authority. Informant is used in formal reporting, legal contexts, intelligence work, and academic language, and it overlaps considerably with the more strongly suggestive term informer.
nounA person who provides information, especially someone who secretly gives evidence or details to police, investigators, or another authority. More generally, it can mean any person who supplies facts, testimony, or specialist knowledge.
- A person who secretly provides information about another person or situation to police, a government agency, or another authority.
- A person who supplies information, testimony, or specialist knowledge to an investigator or organization.
- A participant or community member who provides linguistic examples and observations to a linguist or language researcher.
"The confidential informant provided investigators with detailed evidence about the smuggling operation."
"The confidential informant testified about the smuggling operation."
"Each informant was asked to record how the word was used in ordinary conversation."
The regular plural is informants.
"Several informants were brought forward to testify."
An informant may be telling the truth, but the word often leaves one other question hanging: who can they trust?
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does informant come from?
The English noun was formed from the verb inform and the participial suffix -ant, with parallels in French informant and Latin informāns, the present participle of informāre. Latin informāre combined in- with forma, meaning “form” or “shape,” and came to mean instruct or give information to. Related English forms include information, informative, and informer.
Related word forms
How informant is actually used
The term is neutral to formal and often carries connotations of secrecy, suspicion, or divided loyalty because informants may be reporting on people they know. Its linguistic sense is technical and neutral.
Easily confused with informant
An informant is any person who provides information, often to investigators; an informer more specifically suggests someone who reveals information about others, sometimes as a spy or betrayer.