secret agent
Americannoun
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an agent of a secret service.
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(loosely) a person employed to collect the military secrets of one country and relay them to another, especially a person living in a foreign country while so working for their own nation; spy.
noun
Etymology
Origin of secret agent
First recorded in 1830–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"In the cinema, Bond’s legacy as a character has become problematic and his motivations as a modern British secret agent uncertain," he added.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
Over the next few decades, the secret agent opted for the security of running atop moving trains and hanging off the side of helicopters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026
Rocha was arrested in December on charges he worked as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 29, 2024
But this year, he’s back in front of the camera in the new Prime Video series “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” starring alongside Maya Erskine as a secret agent.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2024
They do not know that in reality I am a secret agent named Wainscotting.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
