undercover agent
18
4.1
- noun
- /ˌʌndərˈkʌvər ˈeɪdʒənt/
- The FBI sent an undercover agent to gather evidence on the suspected crime ring.
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeBut the undercover agent met with him and they've got all sorts of films.
- But the undercover agent met with him and they've got all sorts of films.
- Start of provocations by undercover agents and locals, then trying to protect native Russians at this territory.
Examples
-
We have the testimony of Mrs. Markward, the undercover agent for the FBI... ...stating that Annie Lee Moss was a member, a dues-paying member... ...of the Communist Party... ...the Northeast Club of the Communist Party.
-
He and his wife were actually both undercover agents all over the world.
-
Send us and a group of undercover agents.
-
Two of our undercover agents were killed.
-
I had expected more of them; maybe there were many undercover agents around?
Fiction book (2002) -
I'm an undercover agent for the United States Secret Service.
-
They relied on at least one undercover agent to produce their analysis.
-
Unfortunately, the undercover agent who actually captured the thieves declined to be interviewed on camera.
-
She was an ideal undercover agent, being a respectable, trustworthy, grandmotherly type.
Fiction book (2000) -
He sent an undercover agent to the exhibition who covertly modeled the giant's shape in a lump of wax.
Academic text (2005)
Synonyms
623
2.9
A person who secretly collects information for a government or company
201
7.3
A person who works as a secret agent or detective
33
3.7
A person who works for the government to collect and report secret information about threats to the country
27
3.4
A person who gathers hidden information for a government about enemies
13
3.0
A person who secretly works for a government to get information about the country's safety
12
8.2
A person who secretly enters a place to get secret information or cause harm
1
5.8
A person who secretly gets information for another country or company
A person who works secretly inside another group to get information
How Secret
82
8.2
623
2.9
27
3.4
18
4.1
165
5.6
- Formal
∞
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is transparently built from 'undercover' (secretive, working in disguise) + 'agent' (a person who acts on behalf of others), so the combined meaning 'a person who works secretly to gather information' is directly derivable. This adjective+noun composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern (e.g., Spanish 'agente encubierto'), so an average B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.
Etymology
Undercover agent comes from the picture of someone working under a cover — hidden like a person under a blanket or wearing a disguise so they are not seen. An agent is a person working for the police or government, so an undercover agent hides their true identity to gather information, which is why it means 'a person who works in secret'.