as in interrogated
to officially ask (someone) about a job that has been done or about an experience
Police debriefed the hostages upon their return. The pilot was debriefed after his flight.
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Recent Examples of debriefed
Fox said Williams was debriefed in September 2015 and signed a nondisclosure agreement.
—
Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Shortly thereafter, Dowd found herself inside the FBI’s resident agency in Brevard County, where she was debriefed by a special agent.
—Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Importantly, there was no significant difference in recovery between people who were debriefed and those who were not.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Shortly thereafter, Dowd found herself inside the FBI’s resident agency in Brevard County, where she was debriefed by a special agent.
—Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Importantly, there was no significant difference in recovery between people who were debriefed and those who were not.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debriefed
Verb
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While on the stand, Texas Ranger Job Espinoza, the lead investigator who was with Horner when Athena's body was located and interrogated him after his arrest, testified that Horner had told him Athena’s underwear was still on her body, according to FOX 4.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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Geiser said the organization was made aware of reports that federal authorities interrogated Wang before his death.—
Elaine Rojas-Castillo,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Animal rights activists questioned whether the wolf could survive outside the zoo and also worried it might be killed during capture, something that happened to a puma that escaped from the same zoo in 2018.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
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The teen’s parents later questioned how her abuser was able to continue working with children following his arrest.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The investigation reportedly examined additional texts from Chavez-DeRemer and her deputy chief of staff asking other staffers to purchase wine for the Cabinet secretary.—
Joseph Konig,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
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The civil society organization’s latest report examined whether reintroducing combustion into the EU ETS—a key policy mechanism for achieving the EU’s climate objectives—would cause a resurgence in landfill use across the continent.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Footwear News,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debriefed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debriefed. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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