Synonyms of detective

22 similar words

Another word for detective is investigator. Other synonyms of detective are sleuth and beagle.

Synonyms and similar words for detective

inspector
police detectiveSynonym of detective (“a police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime”).
sleuthA detective.
DT
Det
Det.

private detectivePerson who is not a government official who is hired to provide information about a person or group that is not widely...
private investigatorAn agent detective hired by a private party for the purpose of investigation or evidence gathering.
bloodhoundA detective or other person skilled at finding people or clues.
Dick TracyA detective.
Hercule PoirotA detective.
Jessica FletcherA detective.
Miss MarpleA detective, especially an older woman.
Sherlock
dickA detective.
private dickA private investigator; a private detective.
gumshoeA detective.

noun A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.
noun A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
noun A work of detective fiction.

What is another word for detective?: Detective has 22 synonyms on Word.ws, such as investigator, sleuth and beagle.
What does detective mean?: Detective means a police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.

Adapted from Wiktionary: detective (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “Synonyms of detective.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/detective. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.