Synonyms of private detective

private detective

noun

as in detective

a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons

when the police insisted that it was an accident and not murder, she hired a private detective

Synonyms & Similar Words

• detective
• investigator
• private eye
• private investigator
• operative
• dick
• sleuth
• gumshoe
• sleuthhound
• hawkshaw
• shamus
• sherlock
• tracer
• tracker
• tail
• Federal
• fed
• shadow
• narc
• plainclothesman
• G-man

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of private detective

Meanwhile, private detectives probed Hadley’s vulnerabilities as a witness. — Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 2026

In Spider-Noir, Nicolas Cage plays a down-on-his-luck private detective who used to be New York's only superhero. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 5 June 2026

The movie was made even stranger by then-Hollywood heavyweights like Jackie Chan, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robert Evans playing heightened versions of themselves — not to mention an unsettling performance by Harvey Weinstein as a private detective that has, to put it mildly, not aged well. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 2026

Jackson was involved with the show — which followed three beautiful private detectives — from the very beginning, helping Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg put together the idea after her time on The Rookies. — Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2026