double agent
Americannoun
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a person who spies on a country while pretending to spy for it.
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a spy in the service of two rival countries, companies, etc.
noun
Etymology
Origin of double agent
First recorded in 1930–35
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 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 • Mar. 30, 2026
Think of Mike Buckley as a kind of double agent.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 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
Since the Salisbury poisonings in 2018 – which targeted Russian double agent Sergei Skripal – there has been a five-fold increase in police work to tackle hostile activity, commanders said.
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025
In his final, careless act as a double agent, Ames had left incriminating notes to and from the KGB in his trash can.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
