operative
An employee or other worker with some particular function or skillAn employee or other worker with some particular function or skill.
» An undercover operative infiltrated the organization.
Meaning
3 sensesAn employee or other worker with some particular function or skill.
A spy, secret agent, or detective.
A participant in an operation.
- a person secretly employed in espionage for a government
- someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information and assist in criminal investigations
Examples
5 sentencesAn undercover operative infiltrated the organization.
Sami was an undercover police operative.
I am a post-operative transsexual woman.
There was also a general paucity of trained operatives.
deEs gab auch einen allgemeinen Mangel an ausgebildeten Arbeitern. — Lenjo
Mary's post-operative abdominal pain was caused by the surgeon leaving a surgical instrument inside her.
deMarias postoperative Schmerzen waren dadurch verursacht, dass der Chirurg ein Instrument in ihrem Bauch vergessen hatte. — brauchinet
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
From Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opéraFrom Middle English operative, operatyfe, from Middle French operatif (modern French opératif) or its etymon Latin operātīvus. By surface analysis, operate + -ive.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: operatives| Singular | operative |
|---|---|
| Plural | operatives |
regular
Synonyms
9 synonyms- a person secretly employed in espionage for a government:secret agentintelligence officerintelligence agent
- someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information and assist in criminal investigations:private detectivePIprivate eyeprivate investigatorshamussherlock