operatives

noun

plural of operative
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 operatives Again, this inevitably ends up giving the game more of a Rebellion-era feel, as each of your operatives holds some kind of dark secret or goal that has led them to Zero Company. — Hayes Madsen, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026 On Wednesday, according to the complaint, the operatives handed Bowie a gun, ammunition and an inert explosive, then gave her instructions on how to use them. — ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026 Wild Horse Nine stars Malkovich and Rockwell as two CIA operatives who travel from Santiago, Chile, to Easter Island amid the tense lead-up to the South American nation’s 1973 coup. — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2026 Israel continues to clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Hamas operatives in Gaza, while the Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea. — Arsalan Shahla, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2026 That year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain — with Russian operatives the prime suspects. — Claudia Ciobanu, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026 And that same year, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected was killed in Spain - with Russian operatives the prime suspects. — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 In one cemetery, families of deceased cartel operatives erected graves the size of suburban homes. — Kevin Sieff, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 The Paramount+ spy thriller, now in its third season, follows Joe, the leader of the CIA’s covert Lioness Program, which recruits female operatives to befriend women connected to high-value terrorist targets. — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 10 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for operatives
  1. spies
  2. detectives
  3. agents
  4. investigators
Noun
  • And Project Bond is joining quite the collection of spies—er, vessels—on the seas.
    — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Conspiracy theories — of euthanasia, of sterilization, of American bad intentions involving CIA spies, of viruses bred in pig cells (for those who kept Halal) or monkey cells (to Hindus for whom the macaque is sacred) — were common.
    — Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of spies
Noun
  • Police said homicide detectives were called to the scene and a person of interest was detained.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Psychiatrists need to be good detectives during the entire process, even after a patient is on a medicine.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of detectives
Noun
  • The Nordic Co-Production Market brings together Nordic and international producers, financiers, distributors and sales agents around projects in development.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The actor stars opposite AnnaSophia Robb, with the two playing a pair of FBI agents who investigate what seems to be an impossible homicide inside the prison.
    — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of agents
Noun
  • Rogue OpenAI agents’ unprecedented coordination during the Hugging Face attack significantly increases the risk of AI escaping human control, analysts said, days after investigators released a bombshell report into the incident.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Because one of the boy's family members had measles, investigators tested the boy's lung tissue and found evidence of measles infection, Diamantoni said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of investigators

Browse Nearby Words

operative
operatives
operator
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Operatives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/operatives. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All