double agent

American  

noun

1. a person who spies on a country while pretending to spy for it.

2. a spy in the service of two rival countries, companies, etc.

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double agent British  

noun

1. a spy employed by two mutually antagonistic countries, companies, etc

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Etymology

Origin of double agent

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

And in 2018, the UK said Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in the British cathedral city of Salisbury.

From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026

His KGB contact, who believes him to be a double agent, raises the stakes by asking him for information on Faith—though she has encouraged Gabriel to accept Soviet payments to dupe the Russians.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025

Framed as a confession by the child of a Frenchman and a Vietnamese woman, the narrator is a double agent with an unforgettable voice recalling Graham Greene and Vladimir Nabokov.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

Burgess was a British diplomat and Soviet double agent during the Second World War and the early Cold War period.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2025

Now a double agent, Armistead returned to Lafayette.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

Related Words

• undercover agent