as in investigator
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
the code used by the serial killer in his letters to the police was actually cracked by an amateur detective
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Recent Examples of detective
The gang members began arriving two years ago, around the same time scores of Venezuelan migrants from the Texas-Mexico border aboard charter buses ordered by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, said Savino, the detective bureau’s assistant chief.
—
Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
The Prime Video series is shooting now in Queensland, Australia.
Created and written by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the series sees two female detectives in harsh and tropical Darwin investigating the death of Bushy, the former policing partner of one of the women.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024
Another former detective, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for helping to falsify the search warrant used to execute the raid and for trying to cover up what happened afterward.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 2 Nov. 2024
The rise in petty thefts and armed robberies in New York was so alarming that the police department deployed detectives to Colombia, which neighbors Venezuela, to learn more about the gang’s tactics, Savino said.
—Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for detective 
Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
The Prime Video series is shooting now in Queensland, Australia.
Created and written by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the series sees two female detectives in harsh and tropical Darwin investigating the death of Bushy, the former policing partner of one of the women.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024
Another former detective, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for helping to falsify the search warrant used to execute the raid and for trying to cover up what happened afterward.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 2 Nov. 2024
The rise in petty thefts and armed robberies in New York was so alarming that the police department deployed detectives to Colombia, which neighbors Venezuela, to learn more about the gang’s tactics, Savino said.
—Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for detective
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Cite this Entry
“Detective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detective. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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