Synonyms of spies

spies 1 of 2

noun

plural of spy

as in operatives

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

• operatives
• agents
• assets
• informers
• moles
• spooks
• emissaries
• undercover agents
• secret agents
• undercovers
• couriers
• intelligencers
• infiltrators
• sleepers
• counterspies
• double agents
• spymasters
• stool pigeons
• superspies

spies

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of spy

as in notices

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

• notices
• eyes
• spots
• sees
• regards
• witnesses
• sights
• espies
• watches
• looks (at)
• remarks
• notes
• views
• perceives
• observes
• discerns
• catches
• beholds
• distinguishes
• sets eyes on
• lays eyes on
• gets a load of
• descries
• identifies
• picks out
• considers
• scans
• attends (to)
• surveys
• glimpses
• studies
• minds
• inspects
• heeds
• scrutinizes
• marks
• makes out
• examines
• picks up
• peers (at)
• glances (at)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignores
• passes over
• neglects
• disregards
• misses
• overpasses
• overlooks

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of spies

Noun

The book instead focuses on Penelope’s diplomatic genius, along with her loyal women who form a network of spies for her along with a secret militia that quietly runs the island from the shadows for two decades while their men are away at war. — Literary Hub, 17 July 2026

But no regime, no spies, no saboteurs have yet matched the damage that America’s own president did tonight. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026

Reddick loads her genre-blurring tale with outlandish intrigue involving Soviet spies, a capitalist cult and a roving choir that doubles as a Greek chorus. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

The District of Columbia's most affluent suburb is McLean, home to diplomats and spies. — Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 4 July 2026

On Stranger Things, Harbour played police chief Jim Hopper, the surrogate father to Brown's telekinetic teen Eleven, and the new drama from A24 and Netflix finds them as estranged father-daughter spies. — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 26 June 2026

Big tech and corporate spies Grady’s stewardship of state money has been questioned in the past. — Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026

Kaarsbo—who had spent fifteen years working alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan—was not too concerned about professional spies. — Ben Taub, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

In 1977, two women living in the United States Embassy in Moscow become unlikely spies. — Michael Schneider, Variety, 12 June 2026

Verb

Late one night, Clark spies what appears to be a sliver of light coming through a crack in the wall of the store’s basement. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2026

In Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s The Finding of Moses, a dog spies a young girl whose presence unlocks the painting’s meaning. — Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026

In the 8-episode sci-fi adventure series premiering May 21, residents of a retirement community in New Mexico join forces after its newest occupant, widow Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina), spies a monstrous creature. — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 20 May 2026

When Claire and Frank retreat to Inverness on holiday following the end of WWII, Frank spies the spectre of a Highlander staring up into Claire's window that abruptly vanishes. — Amy Wilkinson, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Feb. 2026

Alma peers through a keyhole and spies her mother (Susanne Wuest) standing before a candlelit shrine to the family’s dead. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2025

And when Clara spies her classmate Miller Adams (Mason Thames) along the roadside, and decides to give him a ride, the film introduces a next-generation complication-that-isn’t-really-one. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2025

When Leo first spies the orphaned Josie singing on a Boston street corner, he’s struck by her resemblance to the Pendleton family, his father’s former employers and the victims of great tragedy when their baby was kidnapped in 1880. — EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025