private detective

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.

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

Three flavors of investigators combine here: the citizen detective, the private detective and the police detective.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

Marten's family also hired a private detective to find her.

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025

This much I can tell you: Colin Farrell plays a private detective in “Sugar.”

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2024

Hale recruited a brooding private detective from Kansas City, who went by the name of Pike.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann