as in operative
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country
the government spy risked his life every day in the fight against global terrorism
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to spot
to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes
I spy a motel off in the distance, so let's spend the night there
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spy
Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
The crackdown was ostensibly to ferret out spies, but in many cases the security forces used the war as a pretext to detain ethnic and religious minorities as well as Afghan migrants, according to Amnesty International.
—Babak Dehghanpisheh, NBC news, 24 Sep. 2025
Leslie Camhi, Travel + Leisure, 15 Sep. 2025
Astronomers spied the bare black hole using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — a mega-instrument built by NASA and its partners in part to reveal how galaxies formed during the universe’s first billion years.
—Quanta Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spy
Noun
Maybe Maurice wasn’t too far off on his hunch that the teens were being brainwashed into spy material.
—Verb
In recent years, the hotel’s sleek, 1930s-style duplexes, which have views of the Chanel atelier, had sometimes been booked by fashion bloggers hoping to spy—but no longer.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for spy
Noun
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Republican operatives at the time warned that outsourcing the ground game to outside groups could pose risks for future cycles, but Kirk and his team described the results as vindication.—
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The operative used New Jersey’s gubernatorial race as an example of a state where energy costs are one of the top issues, noting GOP nominee Jack Ciatarelli’s talking point that the state has driven up those costs.—
Verb
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The animosity between the two boiled over when suspicions grew among the Joneses that Brandon was Marty Baker’s secret informant, after a Skeet associate spotted Brandon and Baker having lunch together in Mentone.—
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Police said drones were spotted near the Karup air base in western Denmark, Reuters reported, citing Ritzau News agency.—
Noun
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Border Patrol agents in San Diego rescued an injured cyclist who fell more than 50 feet from a cliff and into a remote canyon, authorities said.—
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In our hypothetical example, Club X incur £2m in agent fees on that contract renewal.—
Verb
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Once the wholesale distribution is consolidated, Raponi said the goal is to open the brand’s first retail store in Milan, where the company is also eyeing to set up a headquarters.—
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New owner part of the aborted Kroger merger Mostly a supplier to other grocery retailers, C&S Wholesale has been eyeing an expansion of its retail operations in recent years.—
Noun
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Four other agents accompanied me, all also operating undercover.—
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Season 2 of the hit Paramount+ series will continue following Martian (Michael Fassbender), a CIA agent living undercover in his own life.—
Verb
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His mother, Lucia Ayala, visited him weekly and noticed the onset of a cough, the outlet said.—
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Security sweep on course As the Republican candidate stood on the fifth-hole putting green last September, Fercano, the Secret Service agent, was riding a golf cart in a security sweep of the sixth hole and noticed someone hiding behind a chain-link fence in the southeast corner of the course.—
Noun
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In the footage, Olivia tries to convince Jake to utilize the new twist to counteract a mole in an opposing alliance.—
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His boss seems unusually chill with the deception, mostly because this lad might be helpful for sniffing out other moles and double agents in their field.—
Verb
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East Ridge High School’s football stadium was a riot of color and noise early Friday evening, a near-capacity crowd excited to see the host Raptors meet Metro East Conference rival Mounds View.—
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So Instacart is reviewing orders from last October to see what might be filling trick-or-treaters’ bags across the country this year.—
Cite this Entry
“Spy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spy. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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