operative
Example Sentences
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No one—no reporter, operative, commentator, analyst, or person on the street—wants to look like an idiot by overhyping it again.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026
“California Republicans know what’s best for their districts,” the operative said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
That’s why it was so surprising to see longtime Republican operative Joe diGenova resign from his job as a top Trump consigliere — or, more formally, “special counselor to the attorney general” — on Thursday.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Some became incredible investments later, the operative word being “later.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
“The operative words here are ‘past few days.’
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
They asked their supervisors to approve a new investigation and contemplated using undercover operatives to gather more evidence.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four planes on that nearly cloudless day in 2001.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
But some staff on the Commission were not convinced of Bayoumi's innocence, and thought it likely he knew Hazmi and Mihdhar were al Qaeda operatives.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Malkovich and Sam Rockwell play veteran CIA operatives who, after helping destabilize Salvador Allende’s government in 1973 Chile, head to Easter Island on a more personal assignment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
In August 1925, White sent his undercover operatives to infiltrate the town of Ralston.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Vocabulary lists containing operative
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Intelligence leaks
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Lincoln's Grave Robbers
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