CIA agent
American intelligence officer
A CIA agent is someone who works for or with the Central Intelligence Agency, the principal U.S. foreign intelligence service.
Strictly speaking, agents are foreign nationals recruited to provide intelligence, while American employees are officers—but popular usage ignores this distinction: The movie starred a rogue CIA agent on the run.
The term evokes espionage, covert operations, and Cold War intrigue.
- spyCovert information gatherer
- operativeCovert field agent
- case officerIntelligence operative supervisor
- handlerOne who manages something
- covertIntentionally concealed
classified · Langley · espionage · asset · surveillance · intelligence · undercover · tradecraft · dead-drop · extraction · clandestine · infiltration · NOC · safehouse · black site · encrypted · debriefing · plausible deniability
- Agentsspy, operative, intelligence officer, case officer, handler
- Federal Jobsfederal judge, federal prosecutor, customs officer, park ranger, postal worker
- spiesJames Bond, spy, Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt, Austin Powers
- federal employeesfederal employees, federal workers, civil servants, park ranger, federal judge
- investigatorsdetective, investigator, inspector, sleuth, gumshoe
- crime fighterscop, detective, police officer, sheriff, investigator
CIA agentKGB agent
USSR intelligence operative
mole · traitor · double agent · defector · turncoat
CIA agentdiplomat
Official foreign representative
ambassador · press secretary · journalist · public figure · foreign correspondent
CIA agentwhistleblower
Insider who reports misconduct
civilian · private citizen · dissident · Edward Snowden · rogue agent
CIA, agent, agents, agency, agencies, action, active, acting, activate