MI6

American

[em-ahy-siks] / ˈɛmˌaɪˈsɪks /

noun

the government's secret intelligence service.

MI6 British

abbreviation

Military Intelligence, section six; a former official and present-day popular name for the intelligence and espionage agency of the British Government

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of MI6

M(ilitary) I(ntelligence, Section) 6

Compare meaning

How does mi6 compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

MI5 vs. MI6

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:

MI6

The CIA’s director, William Casey, and his team needed little convincing by their MI6 counterparts to jointly act on Kuzichken’s information.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Once he was safely in Britain, MI6 shared his intelligence with the CIA, spelling out the full extent of the KGB’s Iranian ambitions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Along with Russia, China today is a top intelligence target for MI6.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

How bad is Afghan data breach for MI6 and SAS?

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

If there was any chance she was some sort of double agent for MI6, that information needed to be closely guarded.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023