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secret police

secret police

27 6.6
A group that works for the government in secret to watch and punish people who oppose it
  • noun
  • /ˈsiːkrɪt pəˈliːs/
translation icon : policía secreta
  • Well, now Trump says that he's planning to send these secret police to cities all across America.
  • Portuguese secret police
  • secret police force
  • Soviet secret police

He had this CIA and funded and trained secret police called the SAVAK.

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Examples

  • All the while, a secret police force maintained his power by targeting opponents at home and abroad.

  • America helped the Shah of Iran establish a secret police and killed thousands of Iranian people.

    Blog text (18)
  • Up to 20 percent of all church officials directly worked with the secret police.

    Academic text (1996)
  • You do not see the secret police or Big Brother in this plan anywhere.

    Blog text (17)
  • Stasi was the secret police in East Germany.

  • In recent years, the secret police have almost vanished from daily life.

    Academic text (1999)
  • In Poland, scores of secret police agents were still members of parliament, ministers, and ambassadors.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Violence and intimidation were brought into Saddam's realm through his ultimate control of the secret police.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Serbs dominated the officers' corps, the bureaucracy, and the secret police.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The secret police monitored the political demonstrations to suppress any dissent.

How Secret

secret police
27 6.6
Security Service
  • UK
3 3.5
police department
  • US
179 1.3

Surface Forms

secret police singular

Morphology

secret + police

The phrase is compositionally clear: 'secret' (hidden/covert) + 'police' (law enforcement) yields the straightforward idea of a police organization that operates secretly. While specific connotations about political repression or unlawful methods may require context, the core meaning of a covert policing body is directly derivable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The noun secret police comes from the idea of secret meaning 'hidden' joined with police: officers who act like spies, watching, listening and reporting people without telling others. That's why the term means a police group that works 'secretly' to watch, control or punish people who oppose the government.