double agent
double agent — noun
1. A person who secretly gathers information for one country while pretending to wo
A person who secretly gathers information for one country while pretending to work for another rival country's intelligence service.
The CIA found that one of its officers was a double agent working for Russia.
work as a double agent for [country]
A double agent in the novel fed false information to both sides to hide her true role.
The court sentenced a double agent to life in prison for leaking secrets to a foreign power.
Rania suspected her colleague was a double agent after finding coded messages in his notebook.
Tamar worked as a double agent for the CIA while also reporting to Russian intelligence.
- spy
Much broader term for anyone who secretly collects information; all double agents are spies, but not all spies work both sides.
- mole
A spy who infiltrates an organisation from within over a long period; a mole is not necessarily a double agent.
- infiltrator
Someone who joins a group secretly to gather information; more general and less specific to espionage agencies.
- loyalist
Someone who remains faithful to their own side or government.
文法句型
double agent for [country]
work as a double agent
expose a double agent
用法筆記
Often used in the patterns 'work as a double agent for [country]' and 'expose / recruit / turn a double agent'. The term is most common in historical and espionage-fiction contexts; in everyday conversation 'spy' is the more general term.