undercover
Americanadjective
-
working or done out of public sight; secret.
an undercover investigation.
- Synonyms:
- hidden, clandestine, covert
-
engaged in spying or securing confidential information.
an undercover agent.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of undercover
Explanation
Undercover means secret or disguised. A police department might send undercover officers dressed as clowns to investigate a corrupt circus. When this adjective was originally used in the mid-19th century, it meant "sheltered beneath something," but after a century or so, it was routinely used to mean "covert or clandestine." If you go undercover, you're doing some kind of secret work, usually inside an organization or group. If the other chess club members want you to be an undercover spy inside the French club, you'll have to brush up on your verb tenses.
Vocabulary lists containing undercover
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.
Andrew Coles sings in a church choir, is active in local Conservative politics and was once an undercover Metropolitan Police officer – a so-called "spy cop".
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
But his father, also named William, became a supporter — and even went undercover of sorts at her 2021 fraud trial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Proving an exchange of cash for favors often requires the kind of inconvertible evidence that undercover recordings can provide.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, he said he "didn't like what I heard in the documentary" but argued that the party had acted quickly, removing or suspending those in the undercover film.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
I started caring about the game, to the point that Simon used to call me an undercover jock.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
