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
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
Geoffrey recalls the phone call his father received when he found out he had been chosen to take over the role of Britain's most famous secret agent.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2024
But this year, he’s back in front of the camera in the new Prime Video series “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” starring alongside Maya Erskine as a secret agent.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2024
All my years of imagining the life of a secret agent for myself finally paid off.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
