Definition of undercovernext

undercover

2 of 3

noun

as in spy
a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country within the city was a well-organized fifth column, and these undercovers would make themselves known as soon as the invading forces breached the city limits

Synonyms & Similar Words

undercover

3 of 3

adverb

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 undercover
Adjective
Two people, later identified as Fagan and Edwards, exited the Dodge and approached the undercover car, while the ATF officers also got out, the complaint states. Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026 The sequel, which saw the Hill and Tatum repeat their undercover schtick in college, topped that total with a $331 million box office haul. Matt Donnelly, Variety, 10 June 2026
Noun
Four other agents accompanied me, all also operating undercover. Martin Suarez, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2025 Masks were once largely forbidden on the federal level unless an agent was working undercover, said Michael Bouchard, a former assistant director at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives who retired in 2007. Byron Tau, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for undercover
Recent Examples of Synonyms for undercover
Adjective
  • Some may be announced publicly; others may happen in more clandestine ways.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 10 June 2026
  • But clandestine flows aren’t the biggest factor behind the market calm.
    Matt Egan, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
Adjective
  • The film follows cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who lifts secret files about the existence of aliens from Wardex, a covert non-government organization that used to employ him.
    Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
  • The investigation also linked the activity to China based on IP addresses associated with a LinkedIn account and a Gmail account tied to the covert recruitment scheme.
    Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 10 June 2026
Noun
  • In 1977, two women living in the United States Embassy in Moscow become unlikely spies.
    Michael Schneider, Variety, 12 June 2026
  • The Senate tried to approve its own versions later Thursday but also failed, dimming the chances to prevent what could be rare lapse of spy powers.
    Mary Clare Jalonick, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Adverb
  • Nearly all Republican River water comes from underground.
    Allen Best, Denver Post, 14 June 2026
  • FPVs and drone bombing have driven Russian forces underground into bunkers and forced them to cover roads and facilities with nets, wire cages and steel mesh.
    David Hambling, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
Adjective
  • Get Ready: Katy Perry Has Released a Sneak Peek of Her New Song And the internet has receipts.
    Mehera Bonner, Marie Claire, 15 Mar. 2017
Adjective
  • That it was spliced with footage of his secret ex-girlfriend, Meija Moreno, confessing to Ciara Miller and Kyle Cooke via FaceTime that West had lied like crazy about their relationship status portended certain doom.
    Marlow Stern, Variety, 10 June 2026
  • Trump then told reporters about a secret military mission to ensure safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important commercial waterways.
    Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
Noun
  • The 24-year-old warehouse operative recently shared the eyebrow disaster online, though the incident itself happened last year.
    Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 12 June 2026
  • Universal also produced a Bourne series called Treadstone, which ran for a single season on the USA Network and starred Jeremy Irvine as the CIA operative John Randolph Bentley.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026
Adverb
  • As a group of dancers surrounded her on the B-stage, she was surreptitiously harnessed into a rig that carried her aloft, limp yet belting, into the heavens, or at least into what looked like a UFO hovering over the arena.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 7 June 2026
  • Gray-hat hackers, unlike white-hats, surreptitiously sneak into corporate systems to find security vulnerabilities.
    Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Undercover.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/undercover. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.

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