1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

person of interest

noun phrase

: a person who is believed to be possibly involved in a crime but has not been charged or arrested

Examples of person of interest in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cops took into custody a person of interest, who had not been charged by Saturday afternoon. — Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 19 Sep. 2026 Investigators at the time publicly identified Conahan, who was already on Florida's death row, as a person of interest, but he was never charged. — ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026 Two persons of interest were identified — Francis Leroy Hohimer, who was serving a lengthy prison sentence for armed robbery in Iowa, and Frederick Malchow, a partner in crime of Hohimer's who had died in 1967 after a prison break in Pennsylvania. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026 Police said detectives who responded to the scene located a person of interest nearby. — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for person of interest

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of person of interest was in 1937

Rhymes for person of interest

See All Rhymes for person of interest

Browse Nearby Words

person of inherence
person of interest
person-to-person
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Person of interest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/person%20of%20interest. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Legal Definition

person of interest

: a person who is believed to be possibly involved in a crime but has not been charged or arrested
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fungible

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All