operative

American  

[op-er-uh-tiv, op-ruh-tiv, op-uh-ray-tiv] / ˈɒp ər ə tɪv, ˈɒp rə tɪv, ˈɒp əˌreɪ tɪv /

noun

• operatives
  plural

1. a person engaged, employed, or skilled in some branch of work, especially productive or industrial work; worker.

   Synonyms:

   workman

2. a detective.

   Synonyms:

   agent, investigator

3. a secret agent; spy.

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adjective

1. operating, or exerting force, power, or influence.

2. having force; being in effect or operation.

   laws operative in this city.

3. effective or efficacious.

   Synonyms:

   serviceable, effectual

4. engaged in, concerned with, or pertaining to work or productive activity.

5. significant; key.

   The operative word in that sentence is “sometimes.”

6. Medicine/Medical. concerned with, involving, or pertaining to surgical operations.

operative British  

/ ˈɒpərətɪv /

adjective

1. in force, effect, or operation

2. exerting force or influence

3. producing a desired effect; significant

   the operative word

4. of or relating to a surgical procedure

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noun

1. a worker, esp one with a special skill

2. a private detective

Usage

What does operative mean? An operative is a person who is employed in or is skilled in a certain branch of work. Operative is generally used to mean a worker, but in some industries, an operative is specifically a representative or a manager. In the fields of espionage and tactics, an operative is almost always a spy or agent working secretly for an organization. Operative also means detective when used in reference to the police force or private investigation teams. As an adjective, operative often means exerting power or influence. Something that is operative is binding or in effect, such as operative laws or an operative organization that establishes rules. In medicine, operative describes something related to a surgical operation. Operative pain, for example, is pain that occurs from having an operation. Example: A public relations operative informed us that there is an emerging crisis.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interoperative
  noun
• operativeness
  noun
• operativity
  noun
• nonoperative
  adjective
• unoperative
  adjective
• operatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• operatives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of operative

1590–1600; < Middle French operatif < Latin operāt ( us ) ( see operate) + Middle French -if -ive

Explanation

Bond, James Bond, is perhaps the most famous fictional operative of our time. Martini-drinking, globe-trotting, and womanizing aside, let us not forget his primary role as a government secret agent — collecting intelligence and bringing down the world's enemies. As a noun, operative is often used as a synonym for spy. It can also, less covertly, be used to name a skilled worker, as in "No one aligns gears better than Joe, an operative at the car factory." As an adjective, operative can mean that something is working, as in "an operative car alarm." Finally, operative can mean "the most important or effective word." James Bond is a fictional operative, and the operative word in that statement is fictional.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

operative operatives

Winstone leads the cast as Alan "Razor" Sharp, an ex-SAS operative, with Cowbridge portraying a town in England.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

An operative arrives, gets in the car and drives it south to Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

No one—no reporter, operative, commentator, analyst, or person on the street—wants to look like an idiot by overhyping it again.

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026

That’s why it was so surprising to see longtime Republican operative Joe diGenova resign from his job as a top Trump consigliere — or, more formally, “special counselor to the attorney general” — on Thursday.

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

One day that September, the undercover operative who was pretending to be an insurance salesman stopped at a filling station in Fairfax and struck up a conversation with a woman working there.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

They asked their supervisors to approve a new investigation and contemplated using undercover operatives to gather more evidence.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four planes on that nearly cloudless day in 2001.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

But some staff on the Commission were not convinced of Bayoumi's innocence, and thought it likely he knew Hazmi and Mihdhar were al Qaeda operatives.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Malkovich and Sam Rockwell play veteran CIA operatives who, after helping destabilize Salvador Allende’s government in 1973 Chile, head to Easter Island on a more personal assignment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was the more dangerous entity, but its operatives of late seemed to be spending most of their energy battling strikers at coalfields and steel mills around the country.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• operational
• usable