private investigator

noun

: a person not a member of a police force who is licensed to do detective work (such as investigation of suspected wrongdoing or searching for missing persons)

Synonyms

• detective
• dick
• gumshoe
• hawkshaw
• investigator
• operative
• private detective
• private eye
• shamus [slang]
• sherlock
• sleuth
• sleuthhound

Examples of private investigator in a Sentence

She hired a private investigator to follow her husband.

the retired policeman decided to become a private investigator

Recent Examples on the Web

The lawyers said a private investigator identified witnesses who could testify that Davis was not at the scene of the shooting. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025

Playground Productions acquired the franchise rights in 2024, even hiring a private investigator to track down the rights. —Jake Lang, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025

Now a private investigator, MacVeigh observed an similar theme in all three attacks tied to the local mall. —Mollie Markowitz, Fox News, 2 Feb. 2025

That meeting alone is enough for a federal corruption probe, according to Tom Brennan, the family's private investigator for nearly a decade and a former Pennsylvania state trooper. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 16 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for private investigator

• accelerator
• accumulator
• adjudicator
• administrator
• appropriator
• articulator
• attenuator
• bronchodilator
• collaborator
• communicator
• conciliator
• cooperator

Kids Definition

private investigator

noun

: a person who does detective work and is not a member of a police force

Legal Definition

private investigator

noun

: a person not a member of a police force who is licensed to do detective work (as investigation of suspected wrongdoing or searching for missing persons)