Meanings
nounpentito (plural pentiti)
plural pentiti
- A criminal who cooperates with police or government authorities and testifies against or provides harmful information on fellow criminals; a turncoat or informant, usually a former Mafioso.First known use 20th c.
According to a pentito in the 2004 DDA investigation, 50 percent of the shops in Naples alone are actually run by the Camorra.
2007, Roberto Saviano, translated by Virginia Jewiss, Gomorrah, Pan, published 2017, page 50
Origin
- Italianpentito“repentant”
- Englishpentito
Borrowed from Italian pentito (“repentant”).
More words from Italian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
pentito. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pentito
MLA
“pentito.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pentito. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pentito,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pentito.
Source: pentito on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.