G-man
Americannoun
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G-men
plural
noun
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slang an FBI agent
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a political detective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of G-man
First recorded in 1920–25; probably representing Government man
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:
Robert Mueller, who ran the FBI from 2001 to 2013, was known to adhere to Hoover’s G-man dress code of white shirts and dark suits, admonishing agents who wore something more colorful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
Sad to say, Ness peaked in his 20s, and Prohibition’s star G-man never recovered from the intoxicating effects of fame.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
Law professor John Q. Barrett, who was an associate independent counsel during the Iran-Contra investigation, described Mueller to the Times as “rooted in the Justice Department” and possessed of “a kind of G-man temperament.”
From Salon ● May 30, 2019
Comey's odd mix of G-man dispassion, unexpected emotion and very un-FBI-ish high-school slang made for a fascinating and downright entertaining TV event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2018
And there is scarcely a G-man or a Special Agent anywhere without a very firm opinion on that topic.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Bruce Sterling
Legend has it that gangster George Kelly Barnes, known as Machine Gun Kelly, coined the name G-men, or government men, for agents when he shouted “Don’t shoot, G-men!” while being arrested.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 15, 2022
The son of a lawyer, he was inspired by the example of his uncle, one of J. Edgar Hoover’s original G-men, who claimed to have been involved in the killing of the gangster John Dillinger.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 30, 2021
Joe Judge changed the culture in his first year and led the G-men to six wins, which in the awful N.F.C.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2021
South Florida just earned a shameful distinction - it is the single region in the country where the most FBI agents have been killed since G-men were created in 1908.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 3, 2021
He had grown up in Idaho during the Great Depression, working summers as a miner to pay for college, and was eager to jump into the ranks of the G-men.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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