undercover

2 of 3

noun

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

undercover

3 of 3

adverb

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of undercover
Noun
The investigation revealed that Zhang and members of his organization conspired to distribute kilogram-sized quantities of cocaine and MDMA to undercover agents and cooperating witnesses. Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025 During the investigation, Arias made several drug sales to undercover officers, authorities said. Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 25 July 2025
Adverb
Starring Sean Penn, it was based on a book Crowe wrote after spending a year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego. Justin Kroll, Deadline, 11 July 2024 Blazer had been wearing a wire, working in tandem with an FBI undercover, ensnaring more than ten coaches in an elaborate plot that revealed corruption in the basketball programs at Louisville, Arizona, LSU, USC and other schools. Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024 See All Example Sentences for undercover
Recent Examples of Synonyms for undercover
Adjective
  • Party leaders could reveal what their rivals were cooking up and reporters could penetrate clandestine deal-making through sources.
    Dan Walters, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Nic Carter, a crypto venture capitalist, then coined the term Operation Choke Point 2.0, referring to an Obama administration clandestine operation to debank undesirable industries including firearms dealers and payday lenders in the early 2010s.
    Billy Bambrough, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Initially, Moscow opted to provide covert assistance to the rebels in the form of advice and financial support, but its involvement grew steadily more militarized.
    Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
  • The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims Otter's covert recording violates state and federal privacy and wiretap laws.
    Bobby Allyn, NPR, 15 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • But when a series of asteroids hits every major city in the world, including D.C., Will is forced to use his super-secret spy tech to both get his son and daughter to safety and figure out what a league of attacking alien tripods want with the human race — all in the same keystrokes.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2025
  • This is in contrast to the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the US government's fleet of spy satellites.
    Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • In frustration, the AEC turned to another Plowshare experiment, Project Gnome, a detonation in New Mexico expected to be fully contained underground.
    Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Boston’s Big Dig, which buried a central highway underground, was infamously plagued by cost overruns but eventually transformed the city’s urban landscape and boosted the economy.
    Tina Li, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In the 2021 film, Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) stars as Hutch Mansell, a by-the-numbers working stiff who harbors a secret past as an off-the-books government assassin.
    Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
  • The art market is like a stock market where all the shares and their owners are secret.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Butterfly follows David, a former special operative, who finds out that his estranged daughter, Rebecca, is working for the same dark spy agency, Caddis, that he was forced to flee.
    Caroline Blair, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Of the approximately 200 media operatives killed in Gaza in 22 months of war, around 50 have been deliberately targeted, while many others were killed in strikes impacting civilians in the strip, rather than while reporting, Thibaut Bruttin, RSF's director general, told Newsweek.
    Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Constructed from 1933 to 1934 to house Nashville's main post office, it was restored to its original splendor through a public/private partnership campaign led by Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. and his family.
    Jennifer Brett, Nashville Tennessean, 17 Aug. 2025
  • Its members include defense attorneys and prosecutors, public interest lawyers and private practitioners, judges, and law firm attorneys.
    Muhammad U. Faridi, New York Daily News, 17 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Producer Berman got a call from Washington’s longtime WME agent, Andrew Finkelstein.
    Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The Bee obtained the chart hours after Newsom officially launched his redistricting in Los Angeles, during which immigration agents arrested people outside in a show of force by Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino.
    Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Undercover.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/undercover. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

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