secret police

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noun

a police force that functions as the enforcement arm of a government's political policies and whose activities, which often include surveillance, intimidation, and physical violence as a means of suppressing dissent, are usually concealed from the public.

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Also called security police.

Origin of secret police

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby secret police

secretory carcinoma, secretory duct, secretory nerve, secretory otitis media, secret partner, secret police, secret Santa, secret sauce, secret service, secret society, secs.

How to use secret police in a sentence

While the Stasi, the secret police, denied the group the right to organize in public, these tenacious women and men coordinated house parties, steamboat cruises and birthday dinners.
The problem with a U.S.-centric understanding of Pride and LGBTQ rights|Samuel Huneke|June 4, 2021|Washington Post
Trying to escape the secret police at the time, her family moved to Botswana, Kenya, and Uganda before she, her sister, and mother arrived in England when she was 8 years old, leaving her dad behind.
The Many Lanes Of Noma Dumezweni|Brande Victorian|April 2, 2021|Essence.com
The Islamic republic itself has released many of the shah’s records, including the files of his secret police.
America and Iran, from fascination to antagonism|Ray Takeyh|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
In secret, before the referendum, the council went ahead and fluoridated the water anyway.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST

Police officials told the AP that they came out with guns blazing.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yves Albarello, MP of Seine-et-Marne, said the gunmen told police they were ready to “die as martyrs.”
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Smith attended both funerals as a cop and as the husband of Police Officer Moira Smith, who died on 9/11.
The Muslim Cop Killed by Terrorists|Michael Daly|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But along with the cartoon funk is an all-too-real story of police brutality embodied by a horde of evil Pigs.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If Mac had been alone he would have made the post by sundown, for the Mounted Police rode picked horses, the best money could buy.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
The remarkable thing was that all the hurrying people she met seemed also each of them to be on a secret and mystic errand.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
To Berthier, if to any one, Bonaparte entrusted his secret designs, for he knew that he could do so in safety.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
He must be The saltest fish that swims the sea.And, oh!He has a secret woe!
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
Dr. Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at Ingolstadt, founded the secret society of the illuminati.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

British Dictionary definitions for secret police

secret police

noun

a police force that operates relatively secretly to check subversion or political dissent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012