secret agent
Americannoun
-
an agent of a secret service.
-
(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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
As John Black, across more than 4,200 episodes, Hogestyn was a spy, mercenary, police officer, private investigator and secret agent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2024
In 2018, she imposed an order restricting the comments of lawyers in the case of Maria Butina, a Russian gun activist who pleaded guilty to working in America as a secret agent for Moscow.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2023
I was sure my name was somewhere in it, especially since I was shuffling around in an all-black suit, looking like some kind of secret agent with bad feet.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
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.
