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
“I don’t think you’re a big master spy,” the G-man confides to Winner at one point.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2021
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
They are 3-0 at home, beating the G-men in 1997, 2006 and 2014.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
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
With more than 100 feature film roles to his credit, the two-time Oscar nominee has seemingly played most every type of character, from G-men to Jesus — but not many fathers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2018
Even before World War II, Hoover had wanted his G-men to become the chief spy hunters in the Americas.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
