counterintelligence
Americannoun
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the activity of an intelligence service employed in thwarting the efforts of an enemy's intelligence agents to gather information or commit sabotage. CI
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an organization engaged in counterintelligence. CI
noun
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activities designed to frustrate enemy espionage
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intelligence collected about enemy espionage
Etymology
Origin of counterintelligence
First recorded in 1935–40; counter- + intelligence
Explanation
Information and activity that helps to expose or eliminate spying or terrorist threats is counterintelligence. One of the things the CIA is responsible for is counterintelligence. Governments spy on each other, and the action of spying is called intelligence or espionage. When a country works to oppose or uncover spying, it's counterintelligence, or counterespionage. In the United States, both the CIA and the FBI have counterintelligence units. The word has been used since 1940, from counter, "against," and intelligence, from the Latin intelligentia, "power of discerning." The sense of intelligence as "secret information from spies" dates from the 16th century.
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.
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official who held senior counterintelligence roles.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Weiner added, “Any list of this nature in Trump’s hands is a counterintelligence nightmare.”
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
Last month, she replaced longtime Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López with an officer known for his uncompromising stance, former counterintelligence chief Gustavo González.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
The verdict marked the Justice Department’s first conviction on AI-related economic espionage charges, according to a statement from Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence and espionage division.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
There was a name for what she was doing, a word that had just been invented: counterintelligence.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
