agency
Americannoun
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agencies
plural
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an organization, company, or bureau that provides a particular service.
We are a nonprofit agency for people experiencing food insecurity.
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a company having a franchise to represent another.
Perhaps we should be looking for a new advertising agency.
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a governmental bureau or administrative division, or an office that represents it.
My internship at the FDA led to job opportunities with other federal agencies.
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the place of business of an agent.
If you stop by the agency tomorrow, we can go over the details of the land sale.
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the duty or function of an agent.
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the relationship between a principal and an agent.
Investment firms must incentivize proper agency so that fund managers prioritize the investor’s interests over their own.
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the state of being in action or of exerting power; operation.
the agency of divine Providence.
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the capacity to act or exert power.
We may have our free agency, but we are responsible for our choices.
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a means of exerting power or influence; instrumentality.
nominated by the agency of friends.
- Synonyms:
- intercession
noun
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a business or other organization providing a specific service
an employment agency
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the place where an agent conducts business
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the business, duties, or functions of an agent
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action, power, or operation
the agency of fate
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intercession or mediation
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one of the administrative organizations of a government
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of agency
First recorded in 1650–60; from Medieval Latin agentia “ability,” from Latin ag(ere) “to do, drive” + -entia -ency
Explanation
An agency usually provides a service, like an aid organization or a government bureau. If you're looking for a job, an employment agency might be able to help. The Latin word agere means "to do or manage," and it's a fitting ancestor for agency, a word that means an institution that manages or specializes in something. As a secret agent, you might work for the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency. I hope you look good in black. The noun agency also refers to the power or ability to do something, as in the William McKinley quote, "War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”
Vocabulary lists containing agency
"The Harlem Renaissance"
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President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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Word Generation Social Studies - Complex Questions Related to American Democracy
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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.
See Examples For:
In addition, the agency in the past had debt collectors try to convince borrowers to make payments and to help them get out of default through rehabilitation or consolidation.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026
James Elder, spokesman on Gaza for the UN children's agency, UNICEF, warned that the flooding was just the beginning of the cold season.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026
"From our point of view, this is not just about getting the art up online, this is about telling the stories behind the art and giving people agency over it."
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026
Its back-end tech systems can identify the source of a booking, whether it’s an individual, a traditional travel agency or an AI agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
According to the media, there are more than 2,000 people working at Star City, and 30 percent of those jobs are critical to the space agency.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Lutnick helped complete all of the export agreements and forged a close relationship with Huang, frustrating security officials in the State Department and other agencies who disagreed with Huang’s arguments, some of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
The government has said Taiwan's security agencies are investigating the incident.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026
At the time, Kates was the head of Next Management, one of the world's biggest model agencies.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026
“We worked closely with our partner agencies and exhausted all available resources in our attempt to locate Ms. Park. Our deepest condolences are with her family and loved ones.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
Yet White knew that America’s judicial institutions, like its policing agencies, were permeated with corruption.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
