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Showing results for private detective. Search instead for privatdetektivs.
Definitions

private detective

NOUN
detective employed by private parties
Synonyms
STRONGEST
detective gumshoe private eye private investigator sleuth
WEAK
P.I. Sherlock Holmes beagle dick flatfoot inquiry agent inspector investigator operative private dick skip tracer sleuthhound spotter tec

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Claude, meanwhile, having left the police to become a private detective, is obsessed with solving a string of related wartime murders, including that of Huguette’s father.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Marten's family also hired a private detective to find her.

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025

Both articles were produced during a period when the newspaper has acknowledged paying the private detective explicitly to obtain material surreptitiously.

From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2024

She wants to solve her mystery, as every private detective does.

From Salon • Apr. 2, 2024

After authorities failed to investigate—“They never would have done anything,” one of Lewis’s relatives said—her family hired a private detective.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann