as in investigators
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
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Recent Examples of detectives
Late on December 22, for example, mere hours after the shooting, detectives visited Barry and James, both of them still in the ER with conditions listed as critical, to record their official statements.
—
Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
For five years, detectives looked for Townsend.
—Jermont Terry, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Authorities have not confirmed the victims’ identities or their relationship to one another, though detectives believe the shooting was a murder-suicide, sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt.
—Hannah Ruhoff, Sacbee.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Homicide detectives arrived at the scene to investigate.
—Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 22 Jan. 2026
New York City detectives say they were treated rudely and disrespectfully last week after they were mistaken for federal immigration agents while seeking treatment at a hospital after an arrest.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 22 Jan. 2026
San Diego police child abuse detectives are handling the investigation.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
The police—foremost three detectives, played by John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, and Dean Winters—lend David additional muscle.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
Rivera said that detectives told her Xion was found on top of two of his little siblings after the shooting.
—Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2025
Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
For five years, detectives looked for Townsend.
—Jermont Terry, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Authorities have not confirmed the victims’ identities or their relationship to one another, though detectives believe the shooting was a murder-suicide, sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt.
—Hannah Ruhoff, Sacbee.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Homicide detectives arrived at the scene to investigate.
—Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 22 Jan. 2026
New York City detectives say they were treated rudely and disrespectfully last week after they were mistaken for federal immigration agents while seeking treatment at a hospital after an arrest.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 22 Jan. 2026
San Diego police child abuse detectives are handling the investigation.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
The police—foremost three detectives, played by John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, and Dean Winters—lend David additional muscle.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026
Rivera said that detectives told her Xion was found on top of two of his little siblings after the shooting.
—Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detectives
Noun
-
The sheriff said investigators are not ruling out foul play and noted that the circumstances were serious enough to involve the department’s criminal investigation unit.—
Bradford Betz , Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
2 Feb. 2026
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The Department of Justice also stopped investigating the agent, Jonathan Ross, and federal authorities blocked state investigators from participating in the probe.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
2 Feb. 2026
Noun
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His espionage thriller Lioness, which stars Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña as CIA operatives, is in production on its third season.—
Uwa Ede-Osifo,
Dallas Morning News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Venezuelans in the past two decades have watched as the regime squandered the wealth that oil had created, let the country’s oil infrastructure rot, removed gasoline subsidies, and welcomed a bigger hand from Cuba, bartering oil for professionals and intelligence operatives from Havana.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Detectives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detectives. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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