Fifth columnist
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 someone who belongs to a group that secretly undermines another organization
"In both cases audiences can listen to the characters and actually hear them simply because both characters are not who they seem to be; they are fifth column-ists, interlopers in the battlefield of sexual politics. If a homosexual character or a real woman gave the speeches that Andrews and Hoffman gave they would be written off as crackpots by the movie-going public."
- 2 a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader wordnet
Example
More examples"In both cases audiences can listen to the characters and actually hear them simply because both characters are not who they seem to be; they are fifth column-ists, interlopers in the battlefield of sexual politics. If a homosexual character or a real woman gave the speeches that Andrews and Hoffman gave they would be written off as crackpots by the movie-going public."
Etymology
From fifth column + -ist.