Holmes, Sherlock
CulturalDiscover More
Figuratively, any shrewd detective can be called Sherlock Holmes, or simply Sherlock.
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.
Sherlock Holmes would have called it the case of the dog that didn’t bark.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
That aspect of copyright law engendered a lengthy dispute waged by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle against creative artists wishing to put Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson into new works.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2025
Director Guy Ritchie, who has of course tangled with the famous detective before, has this time opted to explore the origin story of Sherlock Holmes.
From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025
“Like a Sherlock Holmes sleuth,” he said, “you’ve got to crack it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2025
Penelope had never heard of Sherlock Holmes, of course, for in a fictional sense he had not been born yet, but she was a clever girl and no stranger to logic herself.
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
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.
