special agent
Americannoun
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an investigator in a law enforcement agency.
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an insurance sales representative.
Etymology
Origin of special agent
An Americanism dating back to 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.
“They didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remer, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters last week.
From Slate • May 26, 2026
“We have a character-driven procedural which, when we started, this kind of a show was not really a thing,” says Sean Murray, who has played special agent Timothy McGee since the first season.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
Alex Doran, the acting special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Antonio, said it was too early to know the shooter’s motive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
FBI special agent Alex Doran said earlier Sunday that a motive for the attack was not known but "there were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism."
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
One day in the summer of 1925, Tom White, the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Investigation’s field office in Houston, received an urgent order from headquarters in Washington, D.C.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
