espionage

noun

es·​pi·​o·​nage ˈe-spē-ə-ˌnäzh  -ˌnäj 

-nij

Canadian also -ˌnazh;

ˌe-spē-ə-ˈnäzh;

i-ˈspē-ə-nij

: the practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company

industrial espionage

Synonyms of espionage

• spying

Examples of espionage in a Sentence

He was charged with several counts of espionage.

the acts of espionage on behalf of the Confederacy carried on by Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow

Recent Examples on the Web

Iranian state media announced their detention the following month over espionage charges and they have now been held for more than 13 months. —Reuters, CNN Money, 19 Feb. 2026

Hogan and his men secretly functioned as an espionage and sabotage operation, successfully manipulating the inept Germans over the course of 168 episodes. —David Faris, TheWeek, 18 Feb. 2026

Lioness, Taylor Sheridan’s espionage thriller, is closing a downtown Fort Worth street for filming this week. —Uwa Ede-Osifo, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026

New Regency has acquired Panic Officer, an espionage thriller spec from screenwriter Ben Ripley (Source Code). —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French espionnage, from Middle French, from espionner to spy, from espion spy, from Old Italian spione, from spia, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German spehōn to spy — more at spy

First Known Use

1793, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

espionage

noun

es·​pi·​o·​nage ˈes-pē-ə-ˌnäzh  -näj 

-ˌnij

: the practice of spying : the use of spies

Legal Definition

espionage

noun

es·​pi·​o·​nage ˈes-pē-ə-ˌnäzh, -ˌnäj, -nij 

: the practice of gathering, transmitting, or losing through gross negligence information relating to the defense of the U.S. with the intent that or with reason to believe that the information will be used to the injury of the U.S. or the advantage of a foreign nation