detective
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detective
- /dɪˈtɛktɪv/
- [dɪˈtʰɛktʰɪv]
- /dəˈtɛktɪv/
- [dəˈtʰɛktʰɪv]
Rhymes with -ɛktɪv
Where it comes from
The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. By surface analysis, detect + -ive.
Noun sense 1 is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction. The later more general noun sense 2 was derived by extension. The verb is also from the noun.
Noun sense 3 (“a work of detective fiction”) is a semantic loan from Dutch detective and Russian детекти́в (detektív), both from English.
noun detectives
- A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator. He worked as a detective with the agency for five years.
-
A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
[…] Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly. […] "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is. Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault they come
Similar: private detective, private investigator, sleuth, bloodhound, Dick Tracy, Hercule Poirot, Jessica Fletcher, Miss Marple, Sherlock, dick, private dick, gumshoe
- A work of detective fiction. Read books that are of interest to you (no matter what kinds of, I, for instance, read detectives, help a lot), try not to use Engl-Russ. Dict. while reading; […]
Similar: beagle, bloodhound, detective, dick, DT, gumshoe, hawkshaw, investigator, Sherlock, sleuth, sleuthhound, 'tec
adjective
- Employed in detecting.
verb detectives · detectiving · detectived
- To be or act as or like a detective. The terminal server manager has to go detectiving around every so often collecting up these ``idle osf users and manually log out their ports on the terminal server.
- To investigate or find information about (someone or something) as or like a detective. But, what is a jew^([sic]) doing giving a child the protection of a Catholic umbella during WWII? And that the country wasn't mentioned, is curious, or that nationality. Polish Jew? German Jew? etc. for this information has merit for detectiving the papers.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: investigator, tec, police detective, hawkshaw, officer, supervisor, agent, inspectorate, constable, captain, policeman, superintendent, police, sarge, inspector, trooper
noun
Similar: beagle, bloodhound, detective, dick, DT, gumshoe, hawkshaw, investigator, Sherlock, sleuth, sleuthhound, 'tec
Translations
Every language
noun police officer who looks for evidence
| Español | detective, inspector |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 탐정 tamjeong, 형사 hyeongsa |
| 日本語 | 探偵 tantei, 刑事 keiji |
| 中文 | 偵探 /侦探 zhēntàn, 警探 jǐngtàn, 探員 /探员 tànyuán |
| हिन्दी | अन्वेषक anveṣak, जाँचकर्ता jā̃ckartā, जासूस jāsūs, गुप्तचर guptacar, खोजी khojī |
| Português | detetive |
| Français | détective |
| Deutsch | Ermittler, Ermittlerin, Detektiv, Detektivin |
| Italiano | investigatore |
| Ελληνικά | αστυνομικός ερευνητής astynomikós erevnitís, ερευνητής erevnitís, ντετέκτιβ ntetéktiv |
| Română | detectiv |
| Русский | детекти́в dɛtɛktív, сы́щик sýščik, операти́вник operatívnik, сле́дователь slédovatelʹ, ище́йка iščéjka |
| Tiếng Việt | thám tử |
| العربية | مُحَقِّق muḥaqqiq |
| עברית | בַּלָּשׁ balásh, בַּלָּשִׁית balashít, חוֹקֵר khokér, חוֹקֶרֶת khokéret |
noun person employed to find information
| Español | detective, investigador privado |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 탐정 tamjeong, 사립탐정 sariptamjeong |
| 日本語 | 探偵 tantei, 私立探偵 shiritsutantei |
| 中文 | 私人偵探 /私人侦探 sīrén zhēntàn, 私家偵探 /私家侦探 sījiā zhēntàn, 偵探 /侦探 zhēntàn |
| हिन्दी | गुप्तचर guptacar |
| Português | detetive |
| Français | détective, enquêteur, enquêteuse |
| Deutsch | Detektiv, Detektivin, Privatdetektiv, Privatdetektivin, Privatermittler, Privatermittlerin |
| Italiano | investigatore, detective, investigatrice |
| Ελληνικά | ερευνητής erevnitís, ιδιωτικός ερευνητής idiotikós erevnitís, ντετέκτιβ ntetéktiv, ερευνήτρια erevnítria, ιδιωτική ερευνήτρια idiotikí erevnítria |
| Русский | сы́щик sýščik, детекти́в dɛtɛktív |
| Tiếng Việt | thám tử tư |
| עברית | בַּלָּשׁ balásh, בַּלָּשִׁית balashít |
Talk about this word "detective." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/detective. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. detective. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/detective "detective." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/detective.Cite this
@misc{detective_2026,
title = {detective},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/detective},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
