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🕵️ A detective 🔍 To investigate
to sleuth

to sleuth

3 6.5
To look for information quietly by following clues
  • verb
  • /sluːθ/
translation icon : investigar
  • She began to sleuth through old records to uncover the truth about her family's history.

Examples

  • Or go sleuthing on a beach, your toes warmed by the sand, and sniff out clues for a mystery plot?

    Academic text (2010)

  • Teenagers, in particular, have demonstrated to me that they have the ability to sleuth out adults whom they find trustworthy.

    Academic text (1991)

  • So who are you out sleuthing for now?

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And we're going to see if he can sleuth out the truth in Drew Confessions.

  • I just want to let you know that I'm not sleuthing anymore.

    Nancy Drew (2007)

  • Dad, do you really think I've been sleuthing?

    Nancy Drew (2007)

  • This means that you'll have to look at what you've written and sleuth out the theme.

    Academic text (2010)

  • When she's not sleuthing in the stacks, she enjoys playing the ukulele, making abstract art, and photographing urban landscapes.

    Blog text (30)

  • ARS scientists in Albany, California, are sleuthing the DNA of these helpful wasps, in hopes that this genetic material will provide a fast, foolproof key to distinguishing one wasp species from another.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The detective decided to sleuth around the neighborhood to gather more information about the missing person.

Synonyms

to spy
vsto sleuth
132 4.4

To secretly watch someone to get information for a government or company

emphasizes discreet searching and investigation rather than passive watching
to snoop
vsto sleuth
89 5.7

To secretly look for someone's private information or watch them

is a discreet, purposeful search rather than a nosy, sneaky curiosity
to shadow
vsto sleuth
27 6.0

To follow someone closely and secretly to watch what they do

uses discreet investigation that may include various methods, not only following
to ferret out
vsto sleuth
  • Informal
13 6.7

To search carefully to find hidden facts or documents

focuses on discreet investigation rather than relentless searching for hidden things
to surveil
vsto sleuth
9 8.4

To watch people or places closely to get information and stop crime

focuses on secret, discreet searching and targeted investigation, not just ongoing monitoring

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to overlook
243 2.9

To not notice someone or something you should see

How Secretly

to spy
132 4.4
to sleuth
3 6.5
to look into
573 2.8
to investigate
∞ 2.8

Surface Forms

sleuth infinitive
sleuthed past
sleuthed past participle
sleuthing present participle
sleuths third person singular

Etymology

Sleuth as a verb comes from the same idea of a sleuth-hound, a dog that follows a 'trail' quietly. To sleuth is to follow clues like that dog, so the verb means to search for or investigate someone or something, often in a secret way.