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 of private investigator

• 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

Then a character actor who plays a private investigator blew us all out of the water on the first take, just completely out-acting us all! — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026

But private investigators hired to recover the Cadillac began tracking it. — Steve Fisher special Correspondent follow, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026

The series follows a private investigator who arrives in a small coastal town to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery. — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026

Advertisement Meanwhile, Pi-o discovers through his private investigator that his mother was the one behind Jeong-yo’s abduction. — Kayti Burt, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

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)