Narc
Operative
Operative noun - A person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons.
Usage example: set in the 1930s, the novel is about a washed-out operative working for a third-rate detective agency
Narc and operative are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Narc" instead a noun "Operative". slang substitute
Cite this Source
Operative and Narc. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/narc/operative
Narc & Operative. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/narc/operative>.
Operative or Narc. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/narc/operative.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "narc" and "operative" have occurred on timeline