private detective
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of private detective
First recorded in 1865–70
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.
Confidential,’” says Chhiu of the stunts in “Spider-Noir,” which follows Cage as a hardened private detective confronting the criminal underbelly of 1930s New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
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
He even hired a private detective, though he was disappointed with the man’s effort.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2024
A lawyer and a former private detective with the Burns agency, Davis had a groomed sleekness.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
