noun
adjective
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used in or serving for detection
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serving to detect
Etymology
Origin of detective
Explanation
Whether it's a police detective who investigates crimes or a private detective hired to find a missing person, a detective is someone whose job is to find out hard-to-get information. Detective comes from the Latin root detectus meaning to uncover or expose. Detectives detect, or discern and uncover the truth, the way a dog might detect an odor and uncover a bone. Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the most famous detective in fiction, used disguises, deductive reasoning and forensics to solve crimes. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," he famously said.
Vocabulary lists containing detective
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Syllabus
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Vocabulary Review, Unit 1
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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.
Michael, in “All Her Fault” you are playing someone who could be a much more conventional detective character, but reveals more layers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
A detective constable told Newry Crown Court that Sir Jeffrey was interviewed for a total of four-and-a-half hours.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
A solicitor for the accused asked the detective inspector in court if another person had been arrested for attempted murder in this case before Carey.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
He played testimony on Grossman’s speed from an Orange County detective who is an expert in crash investigations.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
Louis Lépine and Alphonse Bertillon had missed the lesson of the very first detective story: In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter,” the suspect hides a scandalous letter in plain sight.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
