secret agent
Americannoun
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secret agents
plural
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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.
"In the cinema, Bond’s legacy as a character has become problematic and his motivations as a modern British secret agent uncertain," he added.
From Barron's ● May 26, 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
As John Black, across more than 4,200 episodes, Hogestyn was a spy, mercenary, police officer, private investigator and secret agent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2024
During three meetings with the undercover FBI agent, Rocha began to divulge details about his time working as a secret agent for the Cuban government, the charging document described.
From BBC ● Feb. 29, 2024
The woman who owned the shop, a longtime secret agent of the Viet Cong, had helped them hide the weapons.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
