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

See Examples For:

double agent

Holt worked with Libyan intelligence assets in the 1980s and was the handler of double agent Abdul Majid Giaka, whose information became central to the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

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

Her mom had become some sort of genius double agent since she hooked up with Richie.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell

Related Words

• undercover agent