as in investigator
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the code used by the serial killer in his letters to the police was actually cracked by an amateur detective
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of detective
Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star in this true-crime series about an arson investigator and a detective searching for a serial arsonist.
—
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 24 June 2025
And Natasha Lyonne, who plays amateur detective Charlie Cale, wears almost as many hats: actress, director, writer and producer.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 14 June 2025
Jamie McBride is an LAPD detective with 35 years of experience on the force.
—Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 14 June 2025
Forced to be an armchair detective, he’s assisted in his sleuthing by girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly, utterly gorgeous and talking in a tiny voice that sounds as if her throat had been chilled with a constant supply of ice drops).
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for detective
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 24 June 2025
And Natasha Lyonne, who plays amateur detective Charlie Cale, wears almost as many hats: actress, director, writer and producer.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 14 June 2025
Jamie McBride is an LAPD detective with 35 years of experience on the force.
—Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 14 June 2025
Forced to be an armchair detective, he’s assisted in his sleuthing by girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly, utterly gorgeous and talking in a tiny voice that sounds as if her throat had been chilled with a constant supply of ice drops).
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for detective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detective
Noun
-
Few people, other than the investigators, had been inside the Pulse building before this past week.—
Skyler Swisher,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 June 2025
-
Middle Street and Lake Avenue were closed for several hours while investigators were at the scene.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
The Republican operative Karl Rove has written an admiring book on McKinley.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
16 June 2025
-
Le Carré’s description of CIA-style abductions, where massed operatives overwhelm their target, bind his hands, and dress him in black goggles and headphones engineered to block all sight and sound of the outside world, derives from contemporary journalistic accounts.—
Rav Grewal-Kök
June 16,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detective. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share