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

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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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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 Brown’s ability to hammer Husted on this issue is alarming Republican operatives, who see a Husted victory as crucial to holding a majority in the Senate. — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2026 Painstaking analysis of 319 tons of wreckage and thousands of pieces of evidence from a crime scene covering 845 square miles, along with thousands of interviews in 16 countries, eventually led investigators to two Libyan intelligence operatives. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 27 Aug. 2026 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 In one cemetery, families of deceased cartel operatives erected graves the size of suburban homes. — Kevin Sieff, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for operatives
  1. spies
  2. detectives
  3. agents
  4. investigators
Noun
  • That war ended in a humiliating defeat by an enemy regarded as much weaker, and many tsarist officials blamed the outcome on Japanese spies and saboteurs.
    — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
  • And Project Bond is joining quite the collection of spies—er, vessels—on the seas.
    — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 26 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 rise of agents brings new risks and, in turn, new opportunities for Palo Alto.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The same release announced that more than 4,000 customers use its agents.
    — Rob Green, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Operatives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/operatives. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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