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

As police worked to figure that out, Allison’s family hired a private investigator named Marc Benson, who received an email from a woman named Susan Iannone. —Veronica Fulton, NBC news, 6 July 2025

Fort Worth Police Department officers went about 4 p.m. Wednesday to the 3300 block of East Belknap Street to help a private investigator who was attempting to arrest Pardue. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 July 2025

After Swaggart accused Gorman of adultery, Gorman hired a private investigator who followed Swaggart and took the photographs in New Orleans that ignited the scandal. —Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 1 July 2025

Kevin had preserved enough savings to hire a private investigator, John Powers of Hudson Intelligence, to follow the financial trail. —Cezary Podkul, ProPublica, 25 June 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)