secret agent
Americannoun
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an agent of a secret service.
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(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.
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
A screenwriter hasn’t yet been named and no announcement has been made as to who will take over playing the famed British secret agent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 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
Elizebeth also pinpointed phrases that identified Dickinson as a secret agent.
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.
