as in detective
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sleuth
The insinuation tapped into long-standing suspicions among conspiracy theorists and online sleuths that incriminating and sensitive files in the government’s possession have yet to be released.
—
Michelle L. Price, Chicago Tribune, 5 June 2025
Patients shouldn’t have to be internet sleuths to get such a basic disclosure, but the budget bill could render the requirement unenforceable.
—Larry Magid, Mercury News, 29 May 2025
Seemingly instantaneously, online sleuths dug for proof of the boy’s death, even going as far as posting screenshots from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner confirming his death.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2025
Online sleuths have spent the past year examining photos from Combs’s Labor Day bashes and other lavish events with the same intensity applied to Jeffrey Epstein’s plane logs.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleuth
Michelle L. Price, Chicago Tribune, 5 June 2025
Patients shouldn’t have to be internet sleuths to get such a basic disclosure, but the budget bill could render the requirement unenforceable.
—Larry Magid, Mercury News, 29 May 2025
Seemingly instantaneously, online sleuths dug for proof of the boy’s death, even going as far as posting screenshots from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner confirming his death.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2025
Online sleuths have spent the past year examining photos from Combs’s Labor Day bashes and other lavish events with the same intensity applied to Jeffrey Epstein’s plane logs.
—Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleuth
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleuth
Noun
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The victim’s relatives showed detectives a photo of Ackerman and the victim in the same area the victim’s body had been located, according to an affidavit.—
Caroline Zimmerman
July 7,
Kansas City Star,
8 July 2025
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Meanwhile, back at the Marine Mammal Care Center, the scientific detective work is about to begin.—
NPR Staff,
NPR,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Fishy past Two decades ago, federal investigators alleged Marky’s was one of those companies caught in black market dealings.—
Kylie Williams,
Miami Herald,
29 June 2025
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State and city fire investigators say the Saddleridge fire began under one of those towers.—
Melody Petersen,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sleuth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleuth. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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