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detective Definition

de·tec·tive (dē tektiv, di-)

adjective

  1. of or for detection
  2. of detectives and their work

noun

  1. Etymology: short for detective policeman

    a person on a police force, whose work is investigating and trying to solve crimes
  2. Etymology: short for private detective

    a person working privately to investigate crimes, gather information, etc.
detective Synonyms

detective

n.

police officer, policeman, agent, plainclothesman, private investigator, private eye*, narcotics agent, police sergeant, FBI agent, Scotland Yard man, sleuth*, shadow*, P.I., operative*, wiretapper, polygraphist, investigator*, criminologist*, member of a crime detection squad, analyst*, prosecutor*, patrolman*, eavesdropper*, spy*, reporter*, shamus*, newshound*, minion of the law*, gumshoe*, flatfoot*, dick*, bloodhound*, hawkshaw*, Sherlock*, bull*, G-man*, copper*, cop*, fed*, narc*, slewfoot*, bug artist*, tail*; see also agent 1, police officer.

detective Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • bumble: He ran away from home, and created a new identity working as an assistant for bumbling detective Kuruma Jo.
  • hire: Equipment is available at a fraction of the cost of hiring a Private detective which can give you all the evidence that you need!
  • urge: Alan urges the detective to follow up certain leads he perceives.
  • assign: Inspector Frederick George Abberline was the Scotland Yard detective assigned to lead the on-the-ground investigation into the ' Ripper ' murders.

Adjective modifier

  • fictional: Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective in Arthur Conan Doyle's books, was a regular cocaine user.
  • existential: Utterly distraught and questioning the meaning of life: Albert seeks the help of a bizarre husband-and-wife team of existential detectives.
  • amateur: He had just left the room in which I sat with Basil Grant and his brother Rupert, the voluble amateur detective.
  • retired: Stewart plays a retired police detective who becomes swept up in a complex crime and falls for the wrong woman.
  • budding: A crime scene, as any budding detective might inform you, must be secured lest the DNA and forensic evidence be contaminated.
  • psychic: The other program that I featured in dealt with psychic detectives.

Modifies a noun

  • sergeant: The unit will consist of a detective sergeant who will have four detective constables working under him.
  • fiction: Slim, well crafted detective fiction you can polish off in a few hours.
  • constable: Mr Hunt also faces two charges of making threats to kill a detective constable on September 29.
  • superintendent: He was promoted sergeant after four years and served in every rank in CID up to and including detective superintendent.
  • novel: A detective novel, really, with a fair amount of careful detail.
  • inspector: The second case involved a detective inspector with severe visual impairment who had been unsuccessful at a previous assessment center.

Noun used with modifier

  • homicide: In Kiss the Girls: Washington-based homicide detective Alex Cross is thrust into a case he will never forget.
  • consulting: Stamford Holmes is a reluctant consulting detective in a modern age where the crimes are mundane, not offering challenge.
  • pulp: This novel is essentially a ripping yarn yet it somehow stands apart from typical pulp detective writing.
  • police: Lea Moore is a police detective in Oakland, California.
detective Quotes

The detective novel is†the classic example of a specialized form of art removed from contact with the life it pretends to build on.

—Pritchett, Sir V(ictor) S(awdon)

The No.1Ladies' Detective Agency.

—Smith, Alexander McCall

I thought that writing a detective story would be a wonderful apprenticeship because, whatever people tell you, a crime novel is not easy to write well. As I continued with my craft I became increasingly fascinated by the form and realized that you can use the formula to say something true about men and women and the society in which they live.

—Baroness