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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gumshoe
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
Io is a world-weary gumshoe who can see all the threads that bind mortals to their fates and uses this unusual perception to solve mysteries and crimes.
—John Wiswell, People.com, 3 July 2025
Greenspan’s elastic voice and ceaselessly expressive hands also turn him into Ulysses—a church organist from the Faulkner south whose fanatical devotion to Theda led him, like Iras, straight to her door—and into Detective Finale, Iras’s gumshoe father who’s on the case of their disappearance.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2024
Welcome back, Charlie Cale. Natasha Lyonne is back as TV’s favorite gumshoe detective in the first teaser for Poker Face season two, and the footage teases the roster of high-wattage guest stars who have been brought in to play in Charlie’s murder mystery sandbox when the series returns.
—Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for gumshoe
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Io is a world-weary gumshoe who can see all the threads that bind mortals to their fates and uses this unusual perception to solve mysteries and crimes.
—John Wiswell, People.com, 3 July 2025
Greenspan’s elastic voice and ceaselessly expressive hands also turn him into Ulysses—a church organist from the Faulkner south whose fanatical devotion to Theda led him, like Iras, straight to her door—and into Detective Finale, Iras’s gumshoe father who’s on the case of their disappearance.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2024
Welcome back, Charlie Cale. Natasha Lyonne is back as TV’s favorite gumshoe detective in the first teaser for Poker Face season two, and the footage teases the roster of high-wattage guest stars who have been brought in to play in Charlie’s murder mystery sandbox when the series returns.
—Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for gumshoe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gumshoe
Noun
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At the time, detectives in each jurisdiction had no idea the cases were connected.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
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But, like any committed noir detective, I was left with more questions than anything else.—
Charlie Markbreiter,
Them.,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Less than 24 hours later, investigators say Lauren Spors beat her mother to death with a rock.—
David Clarey,
jsonline.com,
27 Oct. 2025
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Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in an October 26 statement that investigators made the arrests the previous evening.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gumshoe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gumshoe. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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