as in detective
a person not on the police force who investigates criminal or illicit activity or searches for missing persons
unable to get the interest of the police, they hired a private eye to find their missing daughter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of private eye
Sally pauses her work as Marty holds court, sharing war stories from his decades as a private eye.
—
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
Thomas Pynchon's first novel in 12 years, Shadow Ticket, is a mystery that dives into the disappearance of a cheese heiress and draws private eye Hicks McTaggart down a rabbit hole.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Oct. 2025
One Battle, like his other recent movies, is based on a book by Thomas Pynchon, the James Joyce of private eye novelists.
—Peter Bart, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2025
Some, like Lee, aren’t fit to live anywhere else; others, like closeted introvert Dale or Marty (the great Keith David), a Black private eye in the Washbergs’ employ, are just working with the hand they’ve been dealt.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for private eye
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private eye
Noun
-
Nampa detectives eventually learned about Salat’s case in Ada County, where he originally was charged with three counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16, court records show.—
-
Robert Marshall, lead homicide detective, added.—
Noun
-
Minnesota officials have claimed federal authorities blocked state investigators from accessing evidence in the case and asserted that the state lacks jurisdiction to independently investigate the killing, according to the AP.—
-
Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper.—
Noun
-
The private detective Snider hired to tail Dorothy and Bogdanovich, Marc Goldstein, had, according to a suit filed by Bogdanovich and the Stratten estate, stolen Dorothy’s diaries and other personal effects, sold them to a studio.—
-
Lydia Chin is anchored in Chinatown and in her family, while Bill Smith has no family and is a more traditional private detective.—
Noun
-
Second is private investigator Elena Ravenscroft (Ruth Jones), working on a different missing child case, for a different father.—
-
And what if a private investigator went looking for it?—
Cite this Entry
“Private eye.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private%20eye. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
