detective

See also: détective

English

Etymology

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), +‎ -ive. The noun is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɛktɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv
• Hyphenation: de‧tec‧tive

Noun

detective (plural detectives)

2. (law enforcement) 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.

   Synonym: police detective

   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!‎^[1]:

     The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them.

3. A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
   • 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), pages 12–13:

     […] Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly. […] "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is. Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime, to set them straight. There is a strong family resemblance about misdeeds, and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the thousand and first. […]"

   • 2013 March 25, David Sedaris, "Long Way Home" in The New Yorker:

     Had they responded this way in France or America, this wouldn't have surprised me, but wasn't everyone in England supposed to be a detective? Wasn't every crime, no matter how complex, solved in a timely fashion by either a professional or a hobbyist? That's the impression you get from British books and TV shows. Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hetty Wainthropp, Inspector George Gently: they come from every class and corner of the country. There’s even Edith Pargeter's Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk who solved crimes in twelfth-century Shrewsbury. No surveillance cameras, no fingerprints, not even a telephone, and still he cracked every case that came his way.

Synonyms

• (law enforcement): DT (abbreviation), Det (abbreviation), Det. (abbreviation)
• (person employed to find information): private detective, private investigator
• (person employed to find information): (slang) dick, private dick, gumshoe
• sleuth

Derived terms

• antidetective
• cyberdetective
• detective gag
• detectivelike
• detective story
• detective work
• dogtective
• house detective
• (law enforcement, UK): detective chief inspector (DCI)
• (law enforcement, UK): detective chief superintendent (DCS)
• (law enforcement, UK): detective constable (DC)
• (law enforcement, UK): detective inspector (DI)
• (law enforcement, UK): detective sergeant (DS)
• (law enforcement, UK): detective superintendent (DSupt.)
• (law enforcement, UK, archaic): woman detective constable (WDC)
• nondetective
• private detective
• store detective
• stump detective
• superdetective

Related terms

• detect
• detection
• detector

Descendants

• → Catalan: detectiu
• → Dutch: detective
• → French: détective
• → German: Detektiv
• → Greek: ντετέκτιβ (ntetéktiv), ντεντέκτιβ (ntentéktiv)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: detektiv
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: detektiv
• → Portuguese: detetive
• → Spanish: detective
• → Swedish: detektiv

Translations

police officer who looks for evidence

• Albanian: detektiv (sq) m
• Arabic: مُحَقِّق m (muḥaqqiq)
• Armenian: խուզարկու (hy) (xuzarku)
• Asturian: detective m
• Azerbaijani: detektiv, xəfiyyəçi, xəfiyyə
• Belarusian: дэтэкты́ў m (detektýw), шука́ч m (šukáč), сле́дчы m (sljédčy)
• Bengali: গোয়েন্দা (bn) (gōẇenda), গুপ্তচর (bn) (guptocor)
• Bulgarian: детекти́в m (detektív)
• Burmese: စုံထောက် (my) (cumhtauk)
• Catalan: detectiu (ca) m
• Cebuano: detektib
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偵探 / 侦探 (zh) (zhēntàn), 警探 (zh) (jǐngtàn), 探員 / 探员 (zh) (tànyuán)

• Czech: detektiv (cs) m
• Danish: detektiv c
• Dutch: rechercheur (nl) m, speurder (nl) m, detective (nl) m
• Esperanto: policana detektivo
• Estonian: detektiiv
• Finnish: etsivä (fi)
• French: détective (fr) m
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: resjersjeur

• Friulian: investigadôr m
• Galician: detective (gl) m
• Georgian: დეტექტივი (deṭekṭivi)
• German: Ermittler (de) m, Ermittlerin (de) f, Detektiv (de) m
• Greek: αστυνομικός ερευνητής (astynomikós erevnitís), ερευνητής (el) (erevnitís), ντετέκτιβ (el) m or f (ntetéktiv)
• Hebrew: בַּלָּשׁ (he) m (balásh), בַּלָּשִׁית f (balashít), חוֹקֵר (he) m (khokér), חוֹקֶרֶת f (khokéret)
• Hindi: जाँचकर्ता m (jā̃ckartā), जासूस (hi) m (jāsūs), गुप्तचर (hi) m (guptacar), खोजी (hi) m (khojī)
• Hungarian: nyomozó (hu), detektív (hu)
• Ido: detektivo (io)
• Indonesian: detektif (id)
• Irish: bleachtaire m
• Italian: investigatore (it) m
• Japanese: 探偵 (ja) (たんてい, tantei), 刑事 (ja) (けいじ, keiji)
• Kazakh: детектив (detektiv), тыңшы (tyñşy)
• Khmer: រន្ឋគវេសី (ruənthĕəʼkĕəʼveisəy), ហិតប្រណី (km) (hət pranəy), អ្នកយកការណ៍ (nĕək yɔɔ kɑɑ kaa), គិញ (kɨñ), ចារបុរស (caaraʼborɑh)
• Korean: 탐정(探偵) (tamjeong), 형사(刑事) (ko) (hyeongsa)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dedektîf (ku) m, xefiye (ku)

• Kyrgyz: тыңчы (ky) (tıŋcı), сыщик (sışcik), аңдуучу (ky) (aŋduucu)
• Lao: ນັກສືບ (nak sư̄p)
• Latin: inquīsītor m
• Latvian: detektīvs m
• Lithuanian: detektyvas m
• Macedonian: детекти́в m (detektív)
• Malay: detektif, mata gelap (archaic)
• Māori: titeketiwhi, tekitiwhi, kairapuhara
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: politietterforsker m, detektiv m

  Nynorsk: politietterforskar m, detektiv m

• Pashto: موشک m (mošak), سراغي m or f (sorāǧi)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: کارْآگاه (kâr'âgâh)

• Polish: oficer śledczy m, detektyw (pl) m or f, śledczy (pl) m
• Portuguese: detetive (pt) m or f
• Romanian: detectiv (ro) m
• Romansh: investigader m
• Russian: детекти́в (ru) m (dɛtɛktív), сы́щик (ru) m (sýščik), операти́вник (ru) m (operatívnik), сле́дователь (ru) m (slédovatelʹ), ище́йка (ru) f (iščéjka) (sleuth)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: истра̀житељ m, детѐктӣв m

  Latin: istràžitelj (sh) m, detèktīv (sh) m

• Slovak: detektív m
• Slovene: detektiv (sl) m, detektivka f
• Spanish: detective (es) m, inspector (es) m
• Swedish: kriminalpolis c
• Tagalog: tiktik
• Tajik: муфаттиш (mufattiš)
• Thai: นักสืบ (th) (nák-sʉ̀ʉp)
• Turkish: dedektif (tr), hafiye (tr)
• Ukrainian: детекти́в m (detektýv), ни́шпорка (uk) f (nýšporka) (sleuth), сліде́ць m (slidécʹ), си́щик m (sýščyk) (rare)
• Urdu: جاسُوس m (jāsūs), کھوجی m (khojī), سُراغی m (surāġī), سُراغ رَساں m (surāġ rasā̃)
• Uzbek: aygʻoqchi (uz), detektiv (uz)
• Vietnamese: thám tử (vi) (探子)
• Welsh: ditectif (cy) m
• Yiddish: דעטעקטיוו (detektiv)

person employed to find information

• Armenian: խուզարկու (hy) (xuzarku)
• Bulgarian: разузнава́ч m (razuznaváč)
• Catalan: detectiu (ca) m
• Cebuano: detektib
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 私人偵探 / 私人侦探 (sīrén zhēntàn), 私家偵探 / 私家侦探 (sījiā zhēntàn), 偵探 / 侦探 (zh) (zhēntàn)

• Czech: detektiv (cs) m
• Danish: detektiv c, privatdetektiv c
• Dutch: detective (nl) m, speurder (nl) m
• Esperanto: detektivo, detektivino
• Estonian: detektiiv
• Finnish: yksityisetsivä (fi)
• French: détective (fr) m or f, enquêteur (fr) m, enquêteuse (fr) f
• Galician: detective (gl) m
• German: Detektiv (de) m, Detektivin (de) f, Privatdetektiv (de) m, Privatdetektivin (de) f, Privatermittler (de) m, Privatermittlerin (de) f, Schnüffler (de) m (colloquial, pejorative), Schnüfflerin (de) f (colloquial, pejorative), Ermittler (de) m
• Greek: ερευνητής (el) m (erevnitís), ιδιωτικός ερευνητής m (idiotikós erevnitís), ντετέκτιβ (el) m or f (ntetéktiv), ερευνήτρια (el) f (erevnítria), ιδιωτική ερευνήτρια f (idiotikí erevnítria)
• Hebrew: בַּלָּשׁ (he) m (balásh), בַּלָּשִׁית f (balashít)
• Hungarian: magánnyomozó (hu), detektív (hu)
• Ido: detektivo (io)
• Indonesian: detektif (id)
• Irish: bleachtaire m, lorgaire m
• Italian: investigatore (it) m, detective (it) m or f, investigatrice (it) f
• Japanese: 探偵 (ja) (tantei), 私立探偵 (shiritsutantei)
• Korean: 탐정(探偵) (tamjeong), 사립탐정(私立探偵) (sariptamjeong)
• Latin: inquīsītor m
• Macedonian: истра́жител m (istrážitel), и́следник m (íslednik)
• Malay: penyiasat
• Maltese: spjun m, spjuna f
• Polish: detektyw (pl) m or f
• Portuguese: detetive (pt) m or f
• Romansh: detectiv m
• Russian: сы́щик (ru) m (sýščik), детекти́в (ru) m (dɛtɛktív)
• Spanish: detective (es) m, investigador privado (es) m
• Swedish: detektiv (sv) c
• Thai: นักสืบ (th) (nák-sʉ̀ʉp)
• Vietnamese: thám tử tư (探子私)
• Welsh: ditectif (cy) m
• Yiddish: דעטעקטיוו m (detektiv)

Adjective

detective (not comparable)

1. Employed in detecting.

Asturian

Alternative forms

• deteutive

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /detekˈtibe/ [d̪e.t̪ekˈt̪i.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -ibe
• Syllabification: de‧tec‧ti‧ve

Noun

detective m or f (plural detectives)

1. detective
   • 2019, Francisco Álvarez, Pasaxeres de la nueche, La Ciudá Negra:

     — Pa correr yá tan los axentes d'uniforme. Ellos son el músculu y los detectives somos el celebru d'esti negociu — afirma apuntando col furabollos a la vidaya.

     "The uniformed cops do the running. They're the muscle and us detectives are the brains of this business", he stated, pointing to his temple with his index finger.

   • 2024 April 22, Nenyuri, Facebook‎^[2]:

     ¿Nagües por ser un deteutive?

     Do you want to be a detective?

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English detective. The sense "work of detective fiction" comes from an ellipsis of detective story.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deː.tɛkˈti.və/, /deːˈtɛk.tɪf/, /dəˈtɛk.tɪf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧tec‧ti‧ve, de‧tec‧tive
• Rhymes: -ivə

Noun

detective m (plural detectives, diminutive detectivetje n or detectiveje n)

1. private detective
2. work of detective fiction, such as a detective novel, film, or series

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “detective”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Galician

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. detective

Further reading

• “detective”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English detective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈtɛk.tiv/
• Rhymes: -ɛktiv

Noun

detective m or f by sense (invariable)

1. detective

   Synonym: investigatore

Further reading

• detective in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Portuguese

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of detetive; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

Further reading

• “detective”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “detective”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English detective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deteɡˈtibe/ [d̪e.t̪eɣ̞ˈt̪i.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -ibe
• Syllabification: de‧tec‧ti‧ve

Noun

detective m or f by sense (plural detectives, feminine detective or detectiva, feminine plural detectives or detectivas)

1. detective

Usage notes

• detective may be masculine or feminine, but the less common detectiva exists for female detectives as well.

Derived terms

• detective privado
• detectivesco

Further reading

• “detective”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025