sleuth

1 of 2

noun

ˈslüth 

: detective

sleuth

2 of 2

verb

sleuthed; sleuthing; sleuths

intransitive verb

: to act as a detective : search for information

transitive verb

: to search for and discover

Did you know?

"They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Those canine tracks in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles set the great Sherlock Holmes sleuthing on the trail of a murderer. It was a case of art imitating etymology. When Middle English speakers first borrowed sleuth from Old Norse, the term referred to "the track of an animal or person." In Scotland, sleuthhound referred to a bloodhound used to hunt game or track down fugitives from justice. In 19th-century U.S. English, sleuthhound became an epithet for a detective and was soon shortened to sleuth. From there, it was only a short leap to turning sleuth into a verb describing what a sleuth does.

Synonyms

Noun

• detective
• dick
• gumshoe
• hawkshaw
• investigator
• operative
• private detective
• private eye
• private investigator
• shamus [slang]
• sherlock
• sleuthhound

Examples of sleuth in a Sentence

Noun

the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Rohrwacher’s movie abounds in mysteries, and her central sleuth is something of an enigma himself, not least because of the actor playing him. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024

Veronica and Stoker also are amateur sleuths who have solved a number of crimes together. —Karen MacPherson, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024

According to the complaint, the FBI received a tip about Freelove’s potential involvement in storming the Capitol in December 2021 — the same month as the coffee shop incident and around the same time that online sleuths identified him as a possible participant in the Capitol riot. —Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024

And scientific sleuths are finding plenty of other problems that don’t always qualify as outright misconduct. —Angus Chen and Jonathan Wosen, STAT, 12 Feb. 2024

Many were turned in by their friends, co-workers, online sleuths and even family members. —Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

Since the photo was released early Sunday, sleuths on X have questioned its authenticity, pointing to what appear to be wonky-looking body parts and blurred edges that don’t appear to be real. —Elise Wrabetz, NBC News, 11 Mar. 2024

In 2022, online sleuths identified Adkins as having been in the Capitol on Jan. 6, and photos of him in the building have been circulating locally ever since. —Karina Elwood, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024

Her account of that night was scrutinized by armchair sleuths, and she was relentlessly lampooned by entertainers and consumers. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2024

Verb

Instead, get a little bit more creative by sleuthing vintage shops, swap markets, and antique shows to purchase one-of-a-kind and eclectic furniture and decor items that will compliment your home and expand your world point of view. —Dominique Fluker, Essence, 8 Dec. 2023

This season, shopping fall’s biggest shoe trends don’t mean skipping the sales—our shopping editors have sleuthed in-seasonal scores as part of Amazon Prime Day shoe deals. —Maia Torres, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2023

To parse writing, AI models sleuth through textual clues, such as word choices, to see their connections. —Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023

In 1994, The New Republic sent him on assignment to Little Rock, Arkansas, to sleuth around the financial paper trail known as Whitewater. —Jonathan Lethem, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023

One redditor sleuthed that The Afterparty season three is already in the works, according to an Instagram story posted by writer Katie Miller. —Town & Country, 2 Aug. 2023

Two button clicks later, the usage type was corrected; part — but not all — of that was a dishwasher cycle, while the rest remains to be sleuthed out. —Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2023

Over a five-year research period, the pair, along with curatorial assistant in Latino art and history Carolina Maestre, selected and sleuthed out 94 objects for the show after making visits to 74 collections around the world. —Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2023

Serious collectors sleuth online for hard-to-find species and travel around the country to auctions and plant shows. —Hannah Holland, Washington Post, 2 May 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for sleuthhound

First Known Use

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1900, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

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Kids Definition

sleuth

1 of 2 noun

ˈslüth 

: detective entry 2

sleuth

2 of 2 verb

: to act as a detective

Etymology

Noun

a shortened form of sleuthhound "a dog that follows a track or trail by scent," from Middle English sleuth "a track or trail"; of Norse origin

Word Origin

In Middle English the word sleuth meant "the track or trail left by an animal or person." After the 15th century sleuth was seldom used except in such words as sleuth-dog and sleuthhound. These were terms for a dog trained to follow a track or trail. The sleuthhound became well known for its eager and thorough pursuit of an object. Later the word sleuthhound came to be used for a "detective." The modern word sleuth first came into use as a shortened form of sleuthhound.