as in detective
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the couple paid a gumshoe to look for their missing son
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gumshoe
Alas, by then the cheese heiress has skipped the country, and one Mickey Finn later our gumshoe comes to consciousness aboard an eastbound ship on the Atlantic.
—
Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, helms the comedic caper, which follows an amiable gang of gumshoes who spend their golden years investigating cold cases.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Murray Hill wants to bring a little fun and camp to a gumshoe series.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 19 June 2024
But like John Sugar, this humble TV gumshoe ain’t going anywhere.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for gumshoe
Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, helms the comedic caper, which follows an amiable gang of gumshoes who spend their golden years investigating cold cases.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Murray Hill wants to bring a little fun and camp to a gumshoe series.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 19 June 2024
But like John Sugar, this humble TV gumshoe ain’t going anywhere.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for gumshoe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gumshoe
Noun
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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,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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Sheldon Williams was a city paramedic in the 1990s and also served as a police detective for 14 years and had been teaching recently at Pitt's emergency medicine program as well as consulting for the Department of Homeland Security and with FEMA.—
Chilekasi Adele,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The report showed that the crash — like most crashes — wasn’t caused by one issue but instead by a cascading series of problems, former NTSB investigator Anthony Brickhouse told The Charlotte Observer.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
31 Jan. 2026
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Police soon cleared Piercy after his story checked out, and investigators say he could be heard on the 911 call doing CPR and trying to save Katlyn.—
Megan Kelly Brown,
CBS News,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gumshoe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gumshoe. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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