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.
Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office, said his agency would deploy drones, specialized tactical teams and operational resources to identify potential threats.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
“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
Former FBI special agent Jeff Kroeger told the BBC: "This is exactly what the Secret Service is trained do to."
From BBC • Apr. 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
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.
