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Glite Dictionary
undercover work

undercover work

11 4.9
Secret work where someone gathers information for the police or security
  • noun
  • /ˌʌndərˈkʌvər wɜrk/
translation icon : trabajo encubierto
  • I did some undercover work with the sheriff's department when I was just out of college.
  • years of undercover work
  • months of undercover work
  • a lot of undercover work

So how did the undercover work conflict with, I mean, did that have any impact on why you got a divorce or?

Examples

Synonyms

espionage
vsundercover work
  • Specialized
108 7.3

Secret spying to get information for a government or company

is more about practical surveillance and evidence collection for policing and security
spying
vsundercover work
66 4.6

The act of secretly watching people or places to get information

adds a formal law enforcement aim and stronger focus on gathering admissible evidence
detective work
vsundercover work
26 3.4

A careful search to find information and solve a crime or mystery

is more likely to be covert surveillance rather than general investigative activity
covert operation
vsundercover work
23 5.7

A secret action by a government or army to avoid being noticed

is narrower, emphasizing covert surveillance and evidence gathering for police or security
secret mission
vsundercover work
17 5.5

A private job done secretly to gather information

is similar but usually narrower, focusing on surveillance and evidence collection for security
undercover operation
vsundercover work
10 5.0

Secret work by police or agents who hide their identity to gather evidence

is the same focus but emphasizes secret surveillance for law enforcement and security
intelligence operation
vsundercover work
  • Specialized
8 4.9

A secret activity by a government to gather information about an enemy or threat

is similar but places more emphasis on police surveillance and local security tasks
sleuthing
vsundercover work
8 6.9

Looking into crime or suspicious events like a detective

is similar work but specifically carried out in secret for security or police needs
covert mission
vsundercover work
3 5.8

A secret operation by soldiers or spies to gather information and carry out dangerous tasks

is more about unseen surveillance and evidence work for civil security purposes
clandestine operation
vsundercover work
  • Formal
3 7.7

A secret activity planned and done to stay hidden, often by spies or soldiers

stresses gathering information openly within security or police aims rather than broad secrecy
intelligence activity
vsundercover work
  • Specialized
1 3.9

Actions to collect and study information about threats for military or security services

focuses more narrowly on covert observation and evidence gathering for law enforcement

How Covert

clandestine operation
  • Formal
3 7.7
undercover work
11 4.9
surveillance
  • Specialized
526 6.2

Surface Forms

undercover work singular
undercover works plural

Morphology

undercover + work

The meaning is directly compositional: 'undercover' (secretive/covert) modifies 'work' (activity), so 'undercover work' transparently means covert activity or surveillance. This ADJ+N pattern follows normal English composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended sense.

Etymology

Undercover work comes from the image of someone working under a cover, like hiding under a coat or using a false name so people do not know who they are. So it means doing 'secret' work to watch people and 'gather information'.