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
Our everyman is Ben Reilly — played by the incomparable Nicolas Cage, making his live-action television debut — a private investigator who moonlights as the city’s only superhero, the Spider.
—
Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Over 13 days of testimony, the Summit County Attorney’s Office called more than 40 witnesses, including Eric Richins’ grieving family members, people who exchanged the illicit drugs said to have killed him, Kouri Richins’ paramour and a private investigator hired by the victim’s family.
—Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
The report wasn’t news to NFL teams, which routinely employ private investigators to dig into draft prospects and compile detailed reports on their backgrounds.
—Zak Keefer, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Priestley and Supernatural’s Cindy Sampson have reprised their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett in the series, which was originally greenlit by Canada’s Corus Entertainment.
—Peter White, Deadline, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for private investigator
Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Over 13 days of testimony, the Summit County Attorney’s Office called more than 40 witnesses, including Eric Richins’ grieving family members, people who exchanged the illicit drugs said to have killed him, Kouri Richins’ paramour and a private investigator hired by the victim’s family.
—Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
The report wasn’t news to NFL teams, which routinely employ private investigators to dig into draft prospects and compile detailed reports on their backgrounds.
—Zak Keefer, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Priestley and Supernatural’s Cindy Sampson have reprised their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett in the series, which was originally greenlit by Canada’s Corus Entertainment.
—Peter White, Deadline, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for private investigator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private investigator
Noun
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Guy Ritchie directed both Sherlock Holmes films, which starred Jude Law as the titular detective's sidekick Watson.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
20 May 2026
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Her detective Lord Peter Wimsey was usually to be found in the upper-class households and clubs that defined a certain strata of English society in the 1920s and 1930s.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Noun
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Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt told 6 ABC that investigators believe a group of friends, who included two boys and two girls, were hanging out at the home when the fatal shooting occurred.—
Erin Clack,
PEOPLE,
17 May 2026
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State police later spoke to Vargas’ mother who said their lawyer had advised them not to talk to investigators and would contact police on their behalf, according to the warrant affidavit.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
17 May 2026
Noun
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In Charlie's Angels, Liu, Barrymore, 51, and Diaz, 53, star as three women working in a private detective agency.—
Staff Author,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
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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
Noun
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That one is set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, where private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
7 May 2026
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Because this is a Jean-Luc Godard film, only Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), a rumpled American private eye who seems to have stepped straight out of one of the classic Hollywood noirs Godard loved.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Private investigator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private%20investigator. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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