fifth columnist
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈfɪfθ ˈkɒləmnɪst/
:
quinto columnista
- I used to complain about the fifth columnists in the Fourth Estate drawing a paycheck from the newspaper but taking every opportunity to make snide remarks about the paper's news coverage and editorial stances.
Examples
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We're in the middle of the biggest bunch of fifth columnists in the country.
-
Again, your interest is not in discussing the problem and ways out, but rather labeling those with whom you disagree as fifth-columnists.
Blog text (6) -
"They used to be called fifth columnists.
Fiction book (1993) -
By doing what a fifth-columnist would never do, your patriotism is no longer in question.
Blog text (6) -
He claims I have called him a fifth columnist, which I have not.
Blog text (6) -
Those attacks seemed organized in the style of fifth columnists and were somewhat purely politically designed.
Academic text (2018) -
Many on the right make the mistake of not acknowledging these easily unnoticed groups of patriots, and thus lose potential allies against anti-American fifth-columnists.
Blog text (6) -
Texans can see a liar coming at them from two states away; they have no use for Marxists and this administration's fifth-columnist shills.
Blog text (26) -
During the war, some citizens were accused of being fifth columnists for providing information to the enemy.
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The government established secret investigations to root out any potential fifth columnists within the organization.
Synonyms
623
2.9
A person who secretly collects information for a government or company
381
3.9
A person who breaks the trust of their country, group, or friend to help an enemy
82
8.2
A person who secretly works inside an organization to pass information to an enemy
18
8.1
A person who helps an enemy that occupies their country during a war
13
8.2
A person who leaves their group to join the opposite side
12
8.2
A person who secretly enters a place to get secret information or cause harm
2
9.9
A person who helps an enemy that controls their country
2
7.5
A person who secretly gathers and gives information to another country
1
9.9
A person who betrays trust or their country
1
9.9
A person who helps an enemy that occupies their country during war
1
5.8
A person who secretly gets information for another country or company
A person who betrays their country by giving secrets to enemies
How Disloyal
Surface Forms
Morphology
fifth + columnist
The meaning 'a secret supporter of an enemy' cannot be derived from 'fifth' (ordinal number) and 'columnist' (a writer of newspaper columns); a B1 learner would likely interpret it as a numerical label for a journalist. The term is an idiomatic/historical metaphor (from 'fifth column') whose sense is language-specific and unpredictable from its parts, so learners who know the constituents would not reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Fifth columnist comes from a 1930s war story: people said four army columns attacked a city while a secret fifth column of helpers stayed inside to help the attackers. So a fifth columnist today is someone who 'secretly helps the enemy' from within.