as in operative
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
Relevance
as in to spot
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of spy
Mara Wilson, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
Fitzgerald most recently starred opposite Scott Eastwood and Sylvester Stallone in the spy thriller Alarum, which was released in January.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025
Scott Huver, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Feb. 2025
Variations on the same style were also spied at Burberry to close out London Fashion Week.
—Ranyechi Udemezue, Vogue, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spy
Noun
Michelle had donated her spy belt from Harriet to Planet Hollywood, and Robin Williams gave one of his Mrs. Doubtfire dresses.
—Mara Wilson, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
Fitzgerald most recently starred opposite Scott Eastwood and Sylvester Stallone in the spy thriller Alarum, which was released in January.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025
Verb
Broyles spied someone sprinting across Doheny at Alden Drive, straight from the latest crime scene.
—Scott Huver, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Feb. 2025
Variations on the same style were also spied at Burberry to close out London Fashion Week.
—Ranyechi Udemezue, Vogue, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spy
Noun
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Back when Rahm Emanuel was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, the idea that a political operative once nicknamed Rahmbo could be a viable candidate to succeed his boss would have seemed a little far-fetched.—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
20 Mar. 2025
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Michael Fassbender stars as George, a chilly veteran British operative who’s given a list of five possible agents who might be betraying the organization.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Raducanu spotted him and approached the umpire in tears during the second game, retreating behind the official’s chair.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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The two were most recently spotted together at Los Angeles’ Birds Street Cafe on Sunday (Mar. 23).—
Marc Griffin,
VIBE.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Family Photo That all changed on the evening of March 8, when federal agents arrived at their door.—
Erin Moriarty,
CBS News,
23 Mar. 2025
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Here, traffic optimization isn’t just a single system’s job; fleets of autonomous vehicles, interconnected traffic lights, and predictive analytics engines work as coordinated agents, dynamically rerouting vehicles and minimizing congestion.—
Cathy Hackl,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Developers hope to include a restaurant in the new commercial space and are eyeing the House of Hits building, which collapsed in 2021, for a music entertainment venue.—
Chris Higgins,
Kansas City Star,
20 Mar. 2025
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Nations across the globe are eyeing the success of their neighbors in medical tourism and want in.—
Keydra Manns,
Essence,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Want to see what else is up for grabs during Wayfair’s undercover Kelly Clarkson Home sale?—
Shea Simmons,
People.com,
6 Feb. 2025
-
The Confidential Rental and Leasing Office, created under former Commissioner Ray Kelly, has an important core purpose: to give investigators, including undercovers, a way to procure and use a range of vehicles that don’t automatically give them away, which standard unmarked cop cars tend to do.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Retailers often anticipate a bump in sales around dividend time each year and even small businesses notice the uptick.—
Shahar Ziv,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
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The new policy allows Ferbert to skip the time-consuming step of asking the council for permission in the form of a briefing session that must be scheduled days in advance and publicly noticed.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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At the start of the film, George is given a list of five possible moles at his agency — his wife is on it.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2025
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There’s a mole in the organization’s midst, and a deadly cyber-MacGuffin, a weapon called Severus, is in danger of falling into the wrong hands.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Though policymakers do apparently see tariffs creating some inflation in 2025 on their recent projections.—
Simon Moore,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
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White flower petals could be seen scattered below the couple and different white bouquets of flowers and white candles surrounded them.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
People.com,
22 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spy. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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