Meanings
plural secret services
- A governmental agency that deals with espionage and other acts of secrecy.
True, we have people of the fifth column, and, unfortunately, the sixth column, with us; they have them in every country; but so far in this war the British diplomatic and secret service has not been so successful as that clever, astute brute-man Hitler and his agents.
1940 September 20, The Advertiser, Adelaide, page 24, column 41 more example
On the surface, the film is a globe-trotting gross-out caper in which Nobby, who's from a hellish version of the titular Lincolnshire town ("twinned with Chernobyl"), is reunited with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), who has become a spy for the British secret services.
2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe United States intelligence agency that protects current and former presidents and vice presidents and their immediate families and protects distinguished foreign visitors; detects and apprehends counterfeiters; suppresses forgery of government securities and documents
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans geheime diens
- geheime diensgovernment organization
Arabic خِدْمَة سِرِّيَّة
- خِدْمَة سِرِّيَّة (ḵidma sirriyya)government organization
Basque zerbitzu sekretu
- zerbitzu sekretugovernment organization
Catalan servei secret
- servei secretgovernment organization
Chinese Mandarin 特工, 情報機關 /情报机关
- 特工 (tègōng)government organization
- 情報機關 /情报机关 (qíngbào jīguān)government organization
Danish sikkerhedspoliti, hemmelig tjeneste
- sikkerhedspolitigovernment organization
- hemmelig tjenestegovernment organization
- efterretningstjenestegovernment organization
- sikkerhedstjenestegovernment organization
Dutch geheime dienst
- geheime dienstgovernment organization
Esperanto sekreta servo
- sekreta servogovernment organization
Finnish salainen palvelu
- salainen palvelugovernment organization
French service secret
- service secretgovernment organization
German Geheimdienst, Nachrichtendienst
- Geheimdienstgovernment organization
- Nachrichtendienstgovernment organization
Greek μυστική υπηρεσία
- μυστική υπηρεσία (mystikí ypiresía)government organization
Hebrew שֵׁרוּת חֲשָׁאִי
- שֵׁרוּת חֲשָׁאִיgovernment organization
Italian servizio segreto
- servizio segretogovernment organization
Japanese 諜報機関
- 諜報機関 (chōhō kikan)government organization
Korean 첩보 기관
- 첩보 기관 (cheopbo gigwan)government organization
Norwegian Bokmål sikkerhetstjeneste
- sikkerhetstjenestegovernment organization
Polish służby specjalne
- służby specjalnegovernment organization
Portuguese serviço secreto
- serviço secretogovernment organization
Romanian serviciu secret
- serviciu secretgovernment organization
Russian секре́тная слу́жба, агенту́ра
- секре́тная слу́жба (sekrétnaja slúžba)government organization
- агенту́ра (agentúra)government organization
- спецслу́жба (specslúžba)government organization
- разве́дка (razvédka)government organization
Spanish servicio secreto
- servicio secretogovernment organization
Swedish säkerhetspolis, säkerhetstjänst
- säkerhetspolisgovernment organization
- säkerhetstjänstgovernment organization
Turkish gizli servis
- gizli servisgovernment organization
Vietnamese cơ quan mật vụ, mật vụ
- cơ quan mật vụgovernment organization
- mật vụgovernment organization
Cite this entry
secret service. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secret%20service
“secret service.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secret%20service. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secret service,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secret%20service.
Source: secret service on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.