investigator

noun

in·​ves·​ti·​ga·​tor in-ˈve-stə-ˌgā-tər 

plural investigators

: one who investigates something: such as

a

: detective

a private investigator

Debra Winger plays the investigator who becomes fixated on identifying a killer …

—Margaret Rauch

b

: a person who conducts experiments or is involved in scientific studies for research

the lead investigator in a clinical trial

For dialect recording, it is best for the investigator to take down as full and accurate notes as possible without slowing down the pace of the interview.

—Ravin I. McDavid, Jr.

Synonyms of investigator

• researcher

Examples of investigator in a Sentence

investigators who discovered new evidence that the universe was much older than had been previously estimated

the investigator in charge of the case was touted as an expert at tracing stolen art

Recent Examples on the Web

The first trial of Payton and Dandrae Martin lasted weeks and included extensive testimony from police investigators, gang experts and the defendants themselves. — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2026

By that time, investigators had run down anonymous tips, interviewed witnesses and contacted attorneys hired by the accused, the documents show. — Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Police also reportedly detained attendees and placed several in zip ties in the parking lot until cleared by investigators. — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

In January, its investigators reported finding more than 100 hallucinated citations in papers accepted at NeurIPS, one of the world’s top AI research conferences, as Fortune first reported. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing investigator

• co-investigator
• private investigator

Rhymes for investigator

• accelerator
• accumulator
• adjudicator
• administrator
• appropriator
• articulator
• attenuator
• bronchodilator
• collaborator
• communicator
• conciliator
• cooperator