Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fifth columnist

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English

Syllables: fifth -colum-nist
IPA

27

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

3

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

someone who belongs to a group that secretly undermines another organization

Example Sentences

"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.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: fifth column

Inflected Forms

fifth columnists (plural)

Synonyms

saboteur

Questions

What does fifth columnist mean?: someone who belongs to a group that secretly undermines another organization
Where does fifth columnist come from?: From fifth column + -ist.

How to pronounce fifth columnist

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