Detective
Detective noun - A person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons.
Usage example: the code used by the serial killer in his letters to the police was actually cracked by an amateur detective
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Synonyms for Detective
Sleuth is a synonym for detective in investigate topic. In some cases you can use "Sleuth" instead a noun "Detective", when it comes to topics like investigator, private eye, investigator of crime. informal substitute
Sleuth
Sleuth noun - A person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons.
Usage example: the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts
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Synonyms for Sleuth
Detective is a synonym for sleuth in investigate topic. You can use "Detective" instead a noun "Sleuth", if it concerns topics such as private detective. popular alternative
Nearby Word: sleuthing
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| fellow | fellow detective | fellow sleuth |
| old | old detective | old sleuth |
| good | good detective | good sleuth |
| female | female detective | female sleuth |
| Other adjectives: best, original, lead, brilliant, actual, psychic, capable, respected, famous, private, fictional, titular, competent, local, aspiring, teenage, eponymous, world-famous. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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In both titles, the player takes control of a young girl named Mackenzie, who inherited a detective agency from her father and wants to become a world-famous sleuth.
Source: Video Game / Touch Detective - In Gaston Leroux's novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room, the murderer turns out to be Frederic Larsan, the Lestrade-like police detective who competes with the Amateur Sleuth for solving the crime.
Source: Detective Mole -
Whether he's an Amateur Sleuth, a "consulting detective" for the Autobots, or a Private Detective varies depending on the continuity, but he always has the same general hardboiled, noir-ish personality.
Source: Hardboiled Detective
Cite this Source
Sleuth and Detective. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/detective/sleuth
Detective & Sleuth. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/detective/sleuth>.
Sleuth or Detective. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/detective/sleuth.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "detective" and "sleuth" have occurred on timeline