Thesaurus results for OPERATIVES

operatives

noun

plural of operative

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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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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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 Jamal allegedly promised to protect the Feeding Our Future operatives against the threat of prosecution, took their money, and then turned some of them over to investigators. — Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026 To the continued amazement of advantage players, casino operatives can argue with apparent conviction that card counting— essentially mental arithmetic—is a form of fraud. — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026 Sandinista operatives are suspected in a series of shootings, abductions and killings of Nicaraguan exiles in Costa Rica in recent years. — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026 Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler and Hans-Dieter Mundt, two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026 Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler (Brühl) and Hans-Dieter Mundt (Kammerer), two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other. — Alex Ritman, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026 On the same day, HHS senior adviser Calley Means doubled down on the claim, posting on X that Kennedy is doing so well that Democratic operatives are slamming the FDA for doing its job by conducting food recalls. — Stephanie Armour, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026 This season, which focuses on tracking down Hamas operatives to stop another catastrophic attack on Israel, speaks directly to a post-October 7 Israeli psyche that is consumed by revenge fantasies. — Hannah Seligson, Vanity Fair, 28 Sep. 2026 Many Floridians still remember the 2010 faceoff between Rick Scott and Alex Sink, where GOP operatives pounced on Sink for reading a message sent by an aide in the closing moments of the event. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for operatives

Noun

Most of these freelancers stayed in the Hotel Istanbul, which was home to a rotating cast of war tourists, jihadis, drifters, and spies.

— Ben Taub, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
The actor grew up immersed in the entertainment business as the son of one of Hollywood's most famous spies.

— Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of spies

Noun

From the classic ‘Whodunit’ style to thrilling neonoirs, mystery novels have compelled readers to solve cases alongside detectives like Hercule Poirot.

— Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 19 Oct. 2026
The driver fled in an unknown direction, but detectives identified the vehicle by parts that were left on the road after the crash.

— Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of detectives

Noun

Belgal was shot by ICE Thursday, according to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said agents surrounded the man and a 5-year-old child in his car before firing multiple times.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026
On the other hand, those whiz-bang AI agents could simply shift companies’ existing software spending rather than actually grow it as hoped.

— Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of agents

Noun

In a statement posted to Facebook, the Wichita Police Department asked anyone with video of the incident to upload it so investigators could take a look.

— Dennis Romero, NBC news, 18 Oct. 2026
In coordination with agents from the state Department of Labor’s Wage & Workplace Standards Division, investigators determined that the business was operating without a workers’ compensation insurance policy on two separate occasions.

— Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of investigators

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operatives

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“Operatives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/operatives. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of operatives

noun

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