1
as in spies
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country
CIA operatives take terrible risks to find out the secrets of foreign countries
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2
as in detectives
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
set in the 1930s, the novel is about a washed-out operative working for a third-rate detective agency
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Recent Examples of operatives
Khanna’s public statements haven’t stopped pro-China operatives from targeting him in their influence operations, however.
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Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Everyone was deemed an armed terrorist, on par with the depictions of Al Qaeda operatives in Afghan caves, and thus the face of a minister for youth and sports could be plastered with a red X on Israel’s official government channels, the same as Osama bin Laden’s.
—Séamus Malekafzali, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2026
Cuban operatives played a central role in shaping how the regime monitored dissent and protected senior leadership, embedding themselves inside Venezuela’s intelligence services.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
Even though Rivera was the incumbent, the Bronx Democratic Party endorsed Camilo in that contest, a snub that resulted in bad blood between party operatives and progressive Rivera supporters.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026
His espionage thriller Lioness, which stars Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña as CIA operatives, is in production on its third season.
—Uwa Ede-Osifo, Dallas Morning News, 5 Jan. 2026
As frigid Cold War conspiracies start unfolding, they’re roped into becoming CIA operatives to help uncover what exactly happened to their partners.
—Lucy Ford, Time, 27 Dec. 2025
Seasoned political operatives and experienced business executives Steve Silverman and Carrie Goux will lead the Washington office.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 30 Oct. 2025
Californians, of course, are casting their ballots already on Proposition 50, which will set aside the congressional maps drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission in favor of a gerrymandered map drawn up by Democratic political operatives for the advantage of the Democrats.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for operatives
Noun
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Just two good old-fashioned American spies, the Soviet Union, the Cold War and a lot of high jinks.—
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Rather than send the grieving widows back to the States, the head honchos decide to turn them into spies.—
Noun
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Chicago Police Department Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Area 2 SVU detectives at 312-747-8274.—
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Two veteran homicide detectives who once served at the LAPD, including the former detective who oversaw Short's investigation, say that several clues point to Margolis, who died in 1993, being responsible for Short's death and the five murders attributed to the Zodiac Killer.—
Noun
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Thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon to protest federal immigration activity after agents were involved in two different shootings this week, one that left a woman dead in Minneapolis and another that wounded two people in Portland, Oregon.—
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Some who marched carried signs of Good as well as others who have been killed by ICE agents or died while in ICE custody.—
Noun
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The investigators and May expressed concern that DeCristo had not addressed her actions.—
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Parents of students with disabilities have increasingly resorted to filing complaints with the state over their schools’ failure to educate their children, and most of the time, state investigators have agreed.—
Cite this Entry
“Operatives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/operatives. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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