investigation
Americannoun
-
the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
-
a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts; detailed or careful examination.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
noun
Usage
What does investigation mean? An investigation is a thorough search for facts, especially those that are hidden or need to be sorted out in a complex situation. The goal of an investigation is usually to determine how or why something happened.Investigations are usually formal and official. The word is commonly associated with police investigations of criminal activity, but it is used in many other contexts to refer to the process of investigating—systematically finding and examining evidence.Example: After a six-month investigation, this news organization uncovered widespread corruption.
Related Words
Investigation, examination, inquiry, research express the idea of an active effort to find out something. An investigation is a systematic, minute, and thorough attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official: an investigation of a bank failure. An examination is an orderly attempt to obtain information about or to make a test of something, often something presented for observation: a physical examination. An inquiry is an investigation made by asking questions rather than by inspection, or by study of available evidence: an inquiry into a proposed bond issue. Research is careful and sustained investigation.
Other Word Forms
- investigational adjective
- preinvestigation noun
- reinvestigation noun
Etymology
Origin of investigation
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English investigacio(u)n from Latin investīgātiōn- (stem of investīgātiō ). See investigate, -ion
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.
They noted that Cuba's government allowed an FBI team to visit Cuba last week to conduct an independent investigation into a deadly shooting involving a US-registered boat.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
Detective Chf Insp Nicky Jenkins, of Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, said: "Our thoughts are with the family of the man who sadly died and a detailed investigation is underway to establish what happened."
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
In January 2025, the agency opened an investigation due to reports of crashes occurring while the feature was being used.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
In order to open a full field investigation into a target, an agent would then need to establish an “articulable factual basis” for belief that a federal crime may be occurring.
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026
The official investigation was closed, and a devastating verdict was issued: “There is no ground to hope that Mona Lisa will ever resume her place in the Louvre.”
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.
