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.
Three flavors of investigators combine here: the citizen detective, the private detective and the police detective.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
A private detective, Auguste Bell, arrives to solve the crime.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
She said a private detective hired by the family found no criminal records for a person named Paramjit Singh in the state, suggesting authorities may have mistaken him for someone else.
From BBC • Oct. 13, 2025
I can also tell you that his character, John Sugar, is not an ordinary private detective, in ways that go beyond his fetishization of the film noir heroes he emulates.
From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2024
In January 1919, after the police detained Middleton and his companion, the private detective interrogated them.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
