as in detective
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the retired policeman decided to become a private investigator
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of private investigator
Over six episodes of Love Con Revenge, Fjellhøy teams up with private investigator Brianne Joseph to spotlight the cases of four men and one woman who demanded money from their partners under false pretenses.
—
Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 5 Sep. 2025
In Love Con Revenge, Cecilie Fjellhøy teams with a private investigator to work with people who have been targeted by romance scams.
—PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025
Near the start of the series, Lee’s approached by Marty (Keith David), a private investigator who knows a lot about Lee’s chief subject, gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan).
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
Berger and Nina Gold cast Tilda Swinton as Cynthia Blithe, the private investigator who tracks him, laser like, to China, with Fala Chen playing Dao Ming, the savvy hostess who sees something behind Doyle’s desperate tactics, and Alex Jennings as an expat of the most venal variety.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for private investigator
Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 5 Sep. 2025
In Love Con Revenge, Cecilie Fjellhøy teams with a private investigator to work with people who have been targeted by romance scams.
—PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025
Near the start of the series, Lee’s approached by Marty (Keith David), a private investigator who knows a lot about Lee’s chief subject, gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan).
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
Berger and Nina Gold cast Tilda Swinton as Cynthia Blithe, the private investigator who tracks him, laser like, to China, with Fala Chen playing Dao Ming, the savvy hostess who sees something behind Doyle’s desperate tactics, and Alex Jennings as an expat of the most venal variety.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for private investigator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private investigator
Noun
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Anyone with information regarding the man’s death can contact homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
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This time, police taped off the house and questioned Sutton-Schulman for two hours until a detective got a call from the hospital confirming that L had attempted suicide in the woods behind the house.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Boelter’s motivation remains unclear, but investigators found a one-and-a-half-page letter, described as rambling and difficult to read, that was ascribed to him.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
16 Sep. 2025
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One of the main enforcers of H-2A rules, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, last year had one of the lowest levels of investigators since the H-2A program was launched in the 1980s, Rutgers University researchers found.—
Max Blau,
ProPublica,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In the 1999 thriller 8mm, Nicolas Cage plays a private detective who watches a graphic film of a girl’s murder.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Sep. 2025
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In the second movie in Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke’s lesbian B-movie trilogy (the first was the fizzy Drive Away Dolls), Margaret Qualley plays Honey, a stylish private detective trying to solve a case that involves a cult.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The film written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke stars Margaret Qualley as a small-town private eye working a case of strange deaths at a mysterious church.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
24 Aug. 2025
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Short version: In this movie co-written and directed by Ethan Coen, Margaret Qualley plays a swaggering, small-town private eye whose investigations into a series of strange deaths lead her to a mysterious church run by a charismatic (and corrupt) preacher played by Chris Evans.—
Chris Foran,
jsonline.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Private investigator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private%20investigator. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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