Synonyms of gumshoe

gumshoe

noun

ˈgəm-ˌshü 

as in detective

a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons

the couple paid a gumshoe to look for their missing son

Synonyms & Similar Words

• detective
• investigator
• sleuth
• operative
• dick
• shamus
• private detective
• private eye
• private investigator
• sherlock
• hawkshaw
• tracer
• sleuthhound
• tracker
• tail
• Federal
• narc
• G-man
• plainclothesman
• shadow
• fed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of gumshoe

Referring to himself with words like spy, detective, gumshoe, Wilbur pulls all kinds of sleuth-like maneuvers to find out ingredients and amounts used in the recipes. — Pamela McLoughlin, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2026

When the populist demagogue Willie Stark orders Burden, journalist turned gumshoe, to dig up dirt on a local judge, Burden demurs; certainly there are no skeletons in the office of the good judge. — Brenda Wineapple, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026

The show will star Nicolas Cage as a gumshoe version of Spider-Man in an alternate 1930s New York City. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Feb. 2026

Alas, by then the cheese heiress has skipped the country, and one Mickey Finn later our gumshoe comes to consciousness aboard an eastbound ship on the Atlantic. — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025