spy
noun · verb
Simple meaning
a person who secretly gathers information about others
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spyIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspaɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
verb
transitive
To spot; to catch sight of; to espy.
transitive
To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.
intransitive
To act as a spy.
intransitive
To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
Used this way, spy is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use spy
- “The spy secretly collected information about the enemy's plans.”noun
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to spot
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “spy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.