工作員|こうさくいんkousakuin

1. nounspy; agent provocateur; covert operative
2. nounmaker; builder; constructor

• Synonym隠密おんみつWrittenA covert agent who works in secret, typically from the Edo period but also used for other eras; it can also mean 'secret', as in 「隠密行動」.
• SynonymスパイNeutralLoanword and the most common everyday word for a spy; 「工作員」 stresses carrying out covert missions such as infiltration and sabotage.
• Synonym回し者まわしものCasualColloquial word for an agent planted by the other side to snoop secretly; hostile nuance, as in 「敵の回し者」. 「工作員」 leans toward news-report language.
• Synonym諜報員ちょうほういんWrittenFormal word for an intelligence operative; the emphasis is on the professional role of collecting information.
• Synonym間者かんじゃWrittenAn old written word for a spy, seen mostly in historical dramas set in the Sengoku period.
• Synonym間諜かんちょうWrittenWritten, archaic term for a spy, now rare; it comes from the language of military strategy.
• Synonym密偵みっていWrittenWritten word for a secret scout; the emphasis is on covertly probing the other side's movements.
• Synonym諜者ちょうじゃWrittenWritten term for an intelligence agent, rare today; in modern usage people say 「諜報員」.

「工作員」 is for someone an organization sends on covert missions like infiltration or sabotage, as in 「北朝鮮の工作員」; it has a news-report feel. Everyday: 「スパイ」. For intelligence officers use 「諜報員」, for historical covert agents 「隠密」, for an enemy's plant 「回し者」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 諜報ちょうほう活動かつどうや密ひそかに働はたらきかけなどを行おこなう人ひと。