Phrase guide

secret police

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A police force operating in secrecy and outside the normal boundaries of law and hidden from the public, usually in support of a totalitarian government's political policies to suppress political dissent through the use of methods including intimidation, violence, and surveillance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, singular

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a police force that operates in secrecy (usually against persons suspected of treason or sedition)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: police, police force, constabulary, law

Narrower terms: Gestapo

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: geheime polisie — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Antigua and Barbuda Creole English: lenkuu — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Arabic: بُولِيس سِرِّيّ (būlīs sirriyy) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Basque: isilpeko polizia — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Basque: polizia sekretua — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Bulgarian: та́йна поли́ция (tájna polícija) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Catalan: policia secreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Chinese Cantonese: 秘密警察 (bei3 mat6 ging2 caat3) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 秘密警察 (mìmì jǐngchá) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Danish: hemmeligt politi — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Dutch: geheime politie — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Finnish: salainen poliisi — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • French: police secrète — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Galician: policía secreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • German: Geheimpolizei — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Greek: μυστική αστυνομία (mystikí astynomía) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Hebrew: משטרה סודי (mishtara sodi) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Hungarian: titkosrendőrség — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Italian: polizia segreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Japanese: 秘密警察 (himitsu keisatsu) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Latin: politia secreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Latvian: slepenpolicija — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Norwegian: hemmelig politi — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Polish: tajna policja — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Portuguese: polícia secreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Romanian: poliție secretă — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Russian: та́йная поли́ция (tájnaja polícija) — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Spanish: policía secreta — police operating outside normal boundaries of law
  • Swedish: hemlig polis — police operating outside normal boundaries of law