Meaning

3 senses
  1. A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.

    He worked as a detective with the agency for five years.

    Ermittler, Ermittlerin, Detektiv

    детекти́вdɛtɛktív, сы́щикsýščik, операти́вникoperatívnik

    детекти́вdetektýv, ни́шпоркаnýšporka, сліде́цьslidécʹ

    a police officer who investigates crimes

  2. A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.

    Detektiv, Detektivin, Privatdetektiv

    сы́щикsýščik, детекти́вdɛtɛktív

    an investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public

  3. (rare)A work of detective fiction.

Examples

359 sentences
  1. The detectives found no other evidence.

    Детективи не виявили жодних доказів. — triantafillou

    ruНикаких прочих улик сыщики не нашли. — Karok

  2. Tom is a pretty good detective.

    Том доволі непоганий детектив. — deniko

    ruТом довольно хороший детектив. — Smoky

    deTom ist ein ziemlich guter Detektiv. — wolfgangth

  3. I felt like reading the detective story.

    Мені здавалося, що я читаю детектив. — shanghainese

    ruМне казалось, что я читаю детектив. — Hellerick

  4. Did you know Tom was a detective?

    Ти знав, що Том був детективом? — deniko

    ruТы знал, что Том был детективом? — sharptoothed

  5. Why don't you hire a private detective?

    Чому б тобі не найняти приватного детектива? — miketheknight

    ruПочему бы вам не нанять частного детектива? — marafon

    deSchalte doch einen Privatdetektiv ein! — Pfirsichbaeumchen

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
police officer who looks for evidence:
Русский
By meaning 1
police officer who looks for evidence:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
police officer who looks for evidence:
person employed to find information:

Origin

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. By surface analysis, detect + -ive.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: detectives
Singulardetective
Pluraldetectives

regular

Synonyms

24 synonyms

Word family

18 related words

Collocations

12 patterns
  • a private detective
  • private detective
  • a homicide detective
  • reading detective novels
  • detective novels
  • homicide detective
  • reading detective stories
  • hired a detective
  • reading detective
  • detective stories
  • police detective
  • the police detective

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
detective — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto