Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • Dutch spy. A professional dancer in Paris after 1905, she apparently spied for Germany during World War I and was arrested and executed by the French.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Any exotic, female spy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Dutch dancer who was executed by the French as a German spy in World War I (1876-1917)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Dutch (stage name of Margaretha Geertruida (Grietje) Zelle, a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was executed by firing squad for alleged espionage during World War I), from Indonesian matahari ("sun"), from Malay matahari ("sun").

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Examples

  • “He told me that the dancer they call Mata Hari is a German spy,” she said as his eyes began to close again.

    Water Song Suzanne Weyn 2006

  • “He told me that the dancer they call Mata Hari is a German spy,” she said as his eyes began to close again.

    Water Song Suzanne Weyn 2006

  • I’d once heard her described as the Mata Hari of Atoka, with her va-va-voom style of dressing and her success at weaseling information out of her neighbors—but with the eyebrows she looked more like Spock from Star Trek.

    The Merlot Murders Ellen Crosby 2006

  • True, I did have to live for the next week with the nickname Mata Hari, but compared to being known as the writer whose act of fictional revenge had so badly failed, I wouldn’t have cared if everyone had called me Lizzie Borden.

    Author! Author! » 2006 » January 2006

  • True, I did have to live for the next week with the nickname Mata Hari, but compared to being known as the writer whose act of fictional revenge had so badly failed, I wouldn’t have cared if everyone had called me Lizzie Borden.

    Author! Author! » Blog Archive » When good perspectives go bad 2006

  • I’d once heard her described as the Mata Hari of Atoka, with her va-va-voom style of dressing and her success at weaseling information out of her neighbors—but with the eyebrows she looked more like Spock from Star Trek.

    The Merlot Murders Ellen Crosby 2006

  • In 1917, Margaretha Zelle, the spy better known as Mata Hari, was executed by firing squad.

    Keith Thomson: For Sale: Beethoven's Skull 2010

  • In 1917, Margaretha Zelle, the spy better known as Mata Hari, was executed by firing squad.

    Keith Thomson: For Sale: Beethoven's Skull 2010

  • In 1917, Margaretha Zelle, the spy better known as Mata Hari, was executed by firing squad.

    Keith Thomson: For Sale: Beethoven's Skull 2010

  • She could reveal to them that there was a spy school in Antwerp and that the dancer known as Mata Hari was spying for the Germans.

    Water Song Suzanne Weyn 2006

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