private investigator

noun

: a person not a member of a police force who is licensed to do detective work (such as investigation of suspected wrongdoing or searching for missing persons)

Synonyms

• detective
• investigator
• private detective
• private eye

Examples of private investigator in a Sentence

She hired a private investigator to follow her husband.

the retired policeman decided to become a private investigator

Recent Examples on the Web

And so is Marty, who turns out to be Don’s private investigator. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025

Many now have cameras, hire private investigators and offer cash rewards to try to catch the thieves. —Nick Ferraro, Boston Herald, 23 Sep. 2025

Harjo, with his eye for human eccentricities, lends a pulse to stock types—chief among them a poetry-loving private investigator named Marty (Keith David). —Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025

Many now have cameras, hire private investigators and offer cash rewards to try to catch the thieves. —Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 19 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for private investigator

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

Kids Definition

private investigator

noun

: a person who does detective work and is not a member of a police force

Legal Definition

private investigator

noun

: a person not a member of a police force who is licensed to do detective work (as investigation of suspected wrongdoing or searching for missing persons)