un·der·cov·er
ˌən-dər-ˈkə-vər 
: acting or executed in secret
specifically
: employed or engaged in spying or secret investigation
an undercover agent
undercover
adverb
Synonyms
Examples of undercover in a Sentence
Adjective
an undercover operation to infiltrate the terrorist organization
for months she's been an undercover agent pretending to be a drug dealer
Noun
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
Recent Examples on the Web
Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
John Sinclair, a counterculture activist whose nearly 10-year prison sentence for sharing joints with an undercover police officer was cut short after John Lennon and Yoko Ono sang about his plight at a protest rally, died on Tuesday in Detroit.
—Michael S. Rosenwald, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Sinclair drew a 9 1/2-to-10-year prison sentence in 1969 from Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge Robert Colombo for giving two joints to undercover officers.
—Mike Householder, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
In 1969, Sinclair was arrested for marijuana possession, after offering to joints to an undercover police officer, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
—Gary Graff, Billboard, 2 Apr. 2024
Email address: Inside one pawn shop, a bespectacled clerk and two undercover police officers are shown discussing a 9 mm pistol.
—Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, 27 Mar. 2024
The Wagoneer drove away, but not for long — undercover officers swarmed it a short time later.
—Dan Morse, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024
As Latino and immigrant communities across Kansas worried about the implementation of a new law criminalizing human smuggling, the Dodge City Police Department sent an undercover police officer to monitor an information session.
—Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
An undercover agent with the Child Exploitation Task Force in Washington, D.C., was in contact with Arkesteyn via KIK, an instant messaging app, in the week leading up to his March 19 arrest, according to a criminal complaint.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2024
Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Back at the hospital Jack tells Brady that working undercover took a lot of courage.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 8 Sep. 2023
The documentary is a first time collaboration between ABC News Studios and the Associated Press following a former Army sniper undercover inside the KKK.
—ABC News, 30 Apr. 2023
Ideally, sufficient background has been done on the suspect and there is a surveillance plan in place so that other deputies besides the undercovers are monitoring the location where the sting occurs.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2023
The hook for his inexcusably overlong gangster picture sends an informant undercover into the ranks of his brother’s crew of soccer hooligans to snitch him free of drug-dealing charges.
—Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2022
The rapper poked fun at an Internet meme comparing her to Wayans in White Chicks, dressing up as the character in question (an FBI agent undercover as a socialite).
—Grace Gavilanes, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2022
That’s the trademark of a crack undercover: a genius for playing yourself.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
Of the several hundred people who do face-to-face ops, most have only handled a couple of cases as the primary undercover.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
Adjective
Consuelo also faces an additional charge related to allegedly attempting to administer Xanax to an undercover officer ahead of a procedure, Fox 26 reported.
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
John Sinclair, a counterculture activist whose nearly 10-year prison sentence for sharing joints with an undercover police officer was cut short after John Lennon and Yoko Ono sang about his plight at a protest rally, died on Tuesday in Detroit.
—Michael S. Rosenwald, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Sinclair drew a 9 1/2-to-10-year prison sentence in 1969 from Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge Robert Colombo for giving two joints to undercover officers.
—Mike Householder, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
In 1969, Sinclair was arrested for marijuana possession, after offering to joints to an undercover police officer, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
—Gary Graff, Billboard, 2 Apr. 2024
Email address: Inside one pawn shop, a bespectacled clerk and two undercover police officers are shown discussing a 9 mm pistol.
—Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, 27 Mar. 2024
The Wagoneer drove away, but not for long — undercover officers swarmed it a short time later.
—Dan Morse, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024
As Latino and immigrant communities across Kansas worried about the implementation of a new law criminalizing human smuggling, the Dodge City Police Department sent an undercover police officer to monitor an information session.
—Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
An undercover agent with the Child Exploitation Task Force in Washington, D.C., was in contact with Arkesteyn via KIK, an instant messaging app, in the week leading up to his March 19 arrest, according to a criminal complaint.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
Blazer had been wearing a wire, working in tandem with an FBI undercover, ensnaring more than ten coaches in an elaborate plot that revealed corruption in the basketball programs at Louisville, Arizona, LSU, USC and other schools.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Back at the hospital Jack tells Brady that working undercover took a lot of courage.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 8 Sep. 2023
The documentary is a first time collaboration between ABC News Studios and the Associated Press following a former Army sniper undercover inside the KKK.
—ABC News, 30 Apr. 2023
Ideally, sufficient background has been done on the suspect and there is a surveillance plan in place so that other deputies besides the undercovers are monitoring the location where the sting occurs.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2023
The hook for his inexcusably overlong gangster picture sends an informant undercover into the ranks of his brother’s crew of soccer hooligans to snitch him free of drug-dealing charges.
—Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2022
The rapper poked fun at an Internet meme comparing her to Wayans in White Chicks, dressing up as the character in question (an FBI agent undercover as a socialite).
—Grace Gavilanes, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2022
That’s the trademark of a crack undercover: a genius for playing yourself.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
Of the several hundred people who do face-to-face ops, most have only handled a couple of cases as the primary undercover.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'undercover.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near undercover
Cite this Entry
“Undercover.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undercover. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
undercover
adjective
un·der·cov·er
-ˌkəv-ər
: acting or performed in secret
an undercover scheme
especially
: employed or engaged in spying or secret investigation
an undercover agent
undercover
adverb
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