スパイ

ス

パ

イ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

スパイする · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Meanings

spy; spying

Used both as a noun for a person who gathers secret information and as スパイする for the act of spying on someone or something.

〈人ひと〉をスパイするto spy on someone
会かい社しゃはライバル社しゃをスパイしていた。
The company was spying on its rival firm.
〈場ば所しょ〉にスパイを送おくり込こむto send a spy into (a place/organization)
政せい府ふは敵てき国こくにスパイを送おくり込こんだ。
The government sent a spy into the enemy country.
スパイの疑うたがいがあるto be suspected of being a spy
彼かれにはスパイの疑うたがいがあった。
He was suspected of being a spy.
スパイとして働はたらくto work as a spy
彼かの女じょは長なが年ねんスパイとして働はたらいていた。
She had worked as a spy for many years.

諜ちょう報ほう員いん
諜報員 is a formal, official term for an intelligence agent, while スパイ is the everyday word covering both the person and the act of spying.
密みっ偵てい
密偵 is a literary or old-fashioned word for a secret agent, whereas スパイ is the modern, common term used in everyday speech.
隠おん密みつ
スパイ is the modern loanword for a spy of any era, while 隠密 specifically denotes a covert agent of feudal Japan.
工こう作さく員いん
スパイ is the general, everyday word for a spy, while 工作員 sounds more like an organized covert operative acting for a state or faction.

潜せん入にゅうN1
スパイ names the person who spies, while 潜入 names the act of secretly getting into a place, so they aren't interchangeable in a sentence.
諜ちょう報ほう
スパイ refers to the person who spies, whereas 諜報 refers to the secret information or activity of gathering it, not the agent themselves.

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A katakana term. No borrowing language is specified, so the exact etymology is not stated here.