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

Speaking in court on Thursday, Proctor’s barrister said the producer hired a private investigator to attach the tracker to the car of Holt’s partner. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 28 Nov. 2025

The remains — according to a Cowboy State Daily interview Ryan Couch, a former volunteer private investigator working with the Englebert family — were discovered between three and five miles from where the young man had been spotted walking alone by surveillance cameras. —Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 28 Nov. 2025

The lawsuit comes months after a private investigator claimed that Mahmood lives in Troy. —Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 25 Nov. 2025

Nold said a private investigator has been hired to find out what happened, in order to provide answers to the family. —Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 13 Nov. 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)