secret agent
Americannoun
-
secret agents
plural
-
an agent of a secret service.
-
(loosely) a person employed to collect the military secrets of one country and relay them to another, especially a person living in a foreign country while so working for their own nation; spy.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of secret agent
First recorded in 1830–40
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.
In the last decade alone the UK has had more prime ministers, and twice as many people have walked on the moon than have played the British secret agent.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Over the next few decades, the secret agent opted for the security of running atop moving trains and hanging off the side of helicopters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
Then in 1990 he got attention for his turn as the hard-nosed secret agent handling Anne Parillaud's female assassin Nikita, in Besson's hit film of the same name.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
That exchange took on new relevance after Rocha was arrested in December and charged with serving as a secret agent of Cuba since the 1970s.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
“I was imagining them a secret agent team,” I say finally.
From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord
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.
