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
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of private detective
Two weeks later, Colin Farrell returns as Los Angeles private detective John Sugar in Sugar Season 2, which continues in the aftermath of Season 1's explosive finale and plunges deeper into a citywide conspiracy.
—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
1 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
The trio took the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a PaleyFest event commemorating five decades of Charlie's Angels, the groundbreaking ABC series that followed a group of female private detectives.
—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 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
See All Example Sentences for private detective
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
1 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
The trio took the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a PaleyFest event commemorating five decades of Charlie's Angels, the groundbreaking ABC series that followed a group of female private detectives.
—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 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
See All Example Sentences for private detective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private detective
Noun
-
My dad, a police detective, made sure the Klansman saw his service revolver on his waist.
-
Police ask any witnesses who were not contacted by authorities at the scene to contact detectives at (805) 654-9511.
Noun
-
Hinds County’s chief death investigator, Jeramiah Howard, attributed her death to the heat.
-
Carla Walker cold case The 1974 murder of 17-year-old Carla Walker in Fort Worth, Texas, went unsolved for more than four decades before advanced DNA testing helped investigators identify her killer.
Noun
-
In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova.
-
Set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future inhabited by aliens and humans as seen from a 1939 perspective, the film revolves around private eye Raymond Gunn (Rockwell) who is drawn into a case involving murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
Noun
-
Herman Weisberg, a former NYPD detective turned high-profile private investigator, believes one phone call could still crack the case.
-
The spinoff sees Reacher's former protégé working as a private investigator in Chicago.
Cite this Entry
“Private detective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private%20detective. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
