detectives

NOUN

investigator of crime

Synonyms

STRONGEST

agent informer police officer private eye private investigator prosecutor reporter sleuth spy

STRONG

analyst bloodhound bull constable cop dick eavesdropper eye fed fink flatfoot gumshoe nark peeper roper scout sergeant shadow shamus shoofly snoop tail

WEAK

P. I. Sherlock Holmes bird dog plainclothes officer slewfoot

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.

See Examples For:

detectives

The next day, detectives went to the job of the man who reported the snake and spoke to him for several hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

No doubt the TikTok amateur detectives would’ve momentarily shifted from true crime to the Chaplin twins, trying their damnedest to debunk what only the sisters could truly understand.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

For the detectives: There was a period of time when you could not escape “Baby Shark.”

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

They may enable detectives to resolve cases for families even after the passage of decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Not only were the girls detectives, but they had their own detective club called the Clue Crew.

From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene