covert operative
Clandestine government employee
A covert operative is someone who conducts secret operations, typically for a government intelligence agency or military organization.
The term emphasizes both the clandestine nature of the work and the person's active role in carrying it out: The covert operative had been embedded in the organization for three years.
Distinguished from analysts or handlers, operatives work in the field, often under false identities.
- spyCovert information gatherer
- field agentDeployed intelligence operative
- agentOne who acts independently
- moleSubterranean insectivore
- infiltratorOne who enters covertly
shadow · handler · intelligence · intelligence asset · clandestine · undercover · secret identity · sleeper · asset · saboteur · dead drop · cipher · disguise · classified · need to know · extraction · extraction point · surveillance
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- spiesJames Bond, spy, Jason Bourne, secret agent, Ethan Hunt
- secret operativesspy, secret agent, double agent, infiltrator, sleeper agent
- hired fightersmercenary, soldier of fortune, gun for hire, hired gun, sellsword
- insurgentsinsurgent, guerrillas, guerrilla, rebel, resistance fighters
- propagandistspropagandist, Joseph Goebbels, Tokyo Rose, disinformation agent, mouthpiece
covert operativepublic official
Government role holder
public figure · diplomat · ambassador · press secretary · military officer
covert, operative, cover, covered, covering, covers, uncover, uncovered, discovery