secret police

noun

: a police organization operating for the most part in secrecy and especially for the political purposes of its government often with terroristic methods

Examples of secret police in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
John Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump's first term and was Patel's boss, compared the nomination to Joseph Stalin's secret police chief. Robert Legare, CBS News, 11 Dec. 2024 The regime had multiple branches of secret police, collectively called the Mukhabarat, which helped underpin its one-party, one-family, one-man rule. Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2024 Kara-Murza, who had been poisoned in 2015 and 2017, presumably by Vladimir Putin’s secret police, was serving the second year of a twenty-five-year sentence for his public opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. David Remnick, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2024 Both at home and abroad, China relies much more heavily than the United States does on its law enforcement, paramilitary, and secret police agencies to carry out security policy. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Foreign Affairs, 15 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for secret police 

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of secret police was in 1823

Dictionary Entries Near secret police

Cite this Entry

“Secret police.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secret%20police. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

secret police

noun
: a police organization operating mostly in secrecy and especially for the political purposes of its government and often using methods of terrorists

More from Merriam-Webster on secret police

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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