Meaning & use
conduit person
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who passes information or things between two sides, often without making decisions themselves.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a conduit person' or 'conduit people'. Often followed by 'for' or 'between'.
Patterns
- a conduit person for someone
- a conduit person between two sides
In the negotiation, she acted as a conduit person, carrying messages between the two companies.
The spy used a local shopkeeper as a conduit person for secret documents.
A good manager can be a conduit person for feedback from staff to senior leaders.
nouncountabletechnical
In psychology, a person through whom another person's feelings or wishes are expressed, often unconsciously.
Grammar: Technical use in psychology; often appears in phrases like 'act as a conduit person'.
Patterns
- act as a conduit person for someone
In family therapy, the child may become a conduit person for the parents' unspoken conflict.
The therapist explained that the patient was a conduit person for her mother's anxiety.
Word forms
| plural | conduit persons |
|---|---|
| plural | conduit people |
Common combinations
- act as a conduit person
- He acted as a conduit person during the merger talks.
- serve as a conduit person
- She served as a conduit person between the community and the police.
- a conduit person for information
- The journalist was a conduit person for information from inside the government.
- use someone as a conduit person
- They used him as a conduit person to pass money to the rebels.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intermediary
- A more formal word for someone who helps two sides communicate; it often suggests more active negotiation than 'conduit person'.
- go-between
- An everyday term for a person who carries messages between others; less technical than 'conduit person'.
- middleman
- Often used in business for a person or company that buys and sells between others; it can imply a profit motive, which 'conduit person' does not.
Commonly confused: conduit person or conduit?
conduit person vs conduit
A 'conduit' is a pipe or channel for water or electricity, or a means of passing something. 'Conduit person' specifically means a human who acts as that channel.
Practice
In the deal, she was a ______ person, passing messages between the buyer and the seller.
Choose one answer.
'Conduit person' is the correct phrase for someone who passes messages. 'Conductor' means a person who directs an orchestra or a train, not a message-carrier. 'Conduct' is a verb or noun meaning behavior or to lead. 'Conducive' is an adjective meaning helpful or favorable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “conduit person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.