secret police

noun

: a police organization operating for the most part in secrecy and especially for the political purposes of its government often with terroristic methods

Examples of secret police in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web These brazen actions catch the attention of the insidious secret police, who pressure Tomáš to deliver intel on his coworkers in order to protect his rebellious younger brother. Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024 Last year, New York police arrested two men for allegedly setting up a secret police station for a Chinese provincial police agency. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2024 Last year, the Justice Department charged a pair of men with establishing a secret police station in New York City while acting under the direction and control of the Chinese government. Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024 In the early 1950s, Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrenty Beria assigned Nahum Eitingon, the chief architect of the 1940 assassination of Leon Trotsky, in Mexico, to form a special operations brigade to lay plans for blowing up U.S. military bases in Europe. Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 9 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for secret police 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'secret police.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of secret police was in 1823

Dictionary Entries Near secret police

Cite this Entry

“Secret police.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secret%20police. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

secret police

noun
: a police organization operating mostly in secrecy and especially for the political purposes of its government and often using methods of terrorists

More from Merriam-Webster on secret police

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