1
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
an undercover operation to infiltrate the terrorist organization
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in spy
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country
within the city was a well-organized fifth column, and these undercovers would make themselves known as soon as the invading forces breached the city limits
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in underground
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of undercover
Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
In the undercover exchange, the officer told Raybon her previous pimp had beaten her and failed to pay her properly.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
Dana Taylor, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2025
He is aided by Yasir Abbas, a weapons specialist; Raghuveer Singh, a sniper who served in Kashmir and Tawang; Uday Bhan, an explosives expert; and Sukhbir Singh, an Indian agent undercover in Pakistan posing as a Karachi stockbroker.
—Time, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for undercover
Adjective
One of the laws required all law enforcement operating in the state to visibly display identification while on duty, with narrow exclusions for plainclothes, undercover and SWAT details.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
In the undercover exchange, the officer told Raybon her previous pimp had beaten her and failed to pay her properly.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
Noun
Law enforcement officers working in plain clothes or undercover is nothing new.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2025
He is aided by Yasir Abbas, a weapons specialist; Raghuveer Singh, a sniper who served in Kashmir and Tawang; Uday Bhan, an explosives expert; and Sukhbir Singh, an Indian agent undercover in Pakistan posing as a Karachi stockbroker.
—Time, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for undercover
Recent Examples of Synonyms for undercover
Adjective
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The documentary is built around the investigative work of journalists Katya Hakim and Denis Korotkov who picked up the mantle from three colleagues who were brutally slain while looking into Wagner’s clandestine activities in Africa.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
10 Mar. 2026
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On this occasion in 2018, Rodriguez and others in the group had received an anonymous tip of a possible clandestine cemetery on the outskirts of Cordoba.—
Kamala Thiagarajan,
NPR,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Alexander Csergo, a Sydney business consultant, faces up to 15 years in prison after being the second person to be convicted under Australian laws against covert interference and espionage.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
14 Mar. 2026
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The program remained covert for decades and was publicly exposed in 1986 when technician Mordechai Vanunu leaked photographs and information about the site.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Actor André Holland is attached as an executive producer on the television spy thriller United States of Africa, set in Cold War-era Ghana, where a former soldier is recruited to build the continent’s first intelligence agency amid geopolitical intrigue.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Mar. 2026
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Set in Ghana 1958, as the newly independent country becomes the site of a proxy war involving the CIA, KGB, and MI6, the film follows a former Ghanaian soldier tasked with forming the first-ever African spy agency.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
12 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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All say the change punishes immigrants who try to work within the system and threatens to move more of the immigrant economy underground, hurting the state’s tax rolls.—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez,
Austin American Statesman,
15 Mar. 2026
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That means, depending on the particular lake, the water might be filtering through limestone underground before emerging, or the bottom of the lake might be mostly limestone, not squishy mud.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Get Ready: Katy Perry Has Released a Sneak Peek of Her New Song And the internet has receipts.—
Mehera Bonner,
Marie Claire,
15 Mar. 2017
Adjective
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There are also daily lectures from guides on everything from the secret lives of plants to the complexity of Amazonian fish species.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Mar. 2026
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The musketeer names are code names so that these resistance operatives can keep their real identities secret.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Using a special encryption code, the operatives could translate the numerals into a readable message.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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Republican operatives have pointed to Kim’s lukewarm support of the president in previous years.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Slipping surreptitiously from documentary to drama, the story of Junyi, a Catalan of Chinese decent, and his embrace of his roots, moved by the singular draw of family history, and with that a multi-cultural identity.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2026
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Her appearance culminated a season of surreptitiously entering the stadium.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Undercover.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/undercover. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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