private investigator
64
3.7
- noun
- /ˈpraɪvɪt ɪnˈvɛstɪɡeɪtər/
:
investigador privado
- She hired a private investigator to gather evidence for her divorce case.
But then we had a dude in the woods, this guy, Detective Mike, and he, everybody said that he was private investigator.
- But then we had a dude in the woods, this guy, Detective Mike, and he, everybody said that he was private investigator.
Examples
-
Many people turn to a private investigator when they need help finding a missing person.
-
Billy is a private investigator.
-
So do I hire the private investigator or do I not?
-
We can hire a private investigator -to track her down.
-
There was no reason why a private investigator from New York should have been looking for him.
Fiction book (2000) -
I need to speak with the talented private investigator.
-
Brendon was now a licensed private investigator, taking only cases that interested him.
Fiction book (1992) -
My name is Douglas Cartland, I'm a private investigator.
-
I'm a private investigator.
-
She's a private investigator.
Synonyms
∞
2.7
A police officer who investigates crimes and finds out what happened
30
3.4
A person who is not a police officer and is paid to investigate crimes
24
4.2
A person hired to find out information for someone, often about crimes
14
5.6
A person who investigates crimes and follows clues
13
3.7
A person hired to find missing people or information
8
6.8
A person who finds missing people or stolen goods
5
8.4
A detective who works quietly and follows people to find facts
4
8.8
A person hired to find facts or solve crimes for paying clients
2
9.9
A person paid to find information about crimes or people
A private detective hired to find information for people or businesses
A person who carefully follows clues to solve mysteries
How Formal
64
3.7
30
3.4
- Informal
24
4.2
- Archaic
4
8.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositional: 'private' (not public; hired or personal) combined with 'investigator' (someone who investigates) straightforwardly yields 'an investigator hired privately, not a police officer.' Although 'investigator' can sometimes suggest a police role, the modifier 'private' disambiguates the sense, and this construction is cross‑linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Private investigator comes from the idea of someone who is private, working for one client, and an investigator, someone who looks for facts. So it means 'a person hired to find information who is not a police officer'.