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
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.
But an undercover DEA investigation targeting Honduras’s government, led by the agency’s elite Special Operations Division, unexpectedly ensnared the nephews.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
The stranger, however, arrived at the rendezvous accompanied by undercover police officers, who arrested the man.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
A male undercover researcher also visited a mini-mart elsewhere in the West Midlands, where we were told vapes were being sold to children.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
Murillo and his then-partner, Cynthia Lopez, were working undercover in April 2020 when they came upon a white Mitsubishi that had been linked to a robbery at a local Walmart.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
They were working undercover for the Department of Homeland Security.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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.
