as in detectives
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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for private eyes
Noun
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Square-jawed detectives were tripping over corpses at midtown construction sites, blind vigilantes were redecorating Hell’s Kitchen with body parts and even poor Lester the doorman ended up dead in an Upper West Side courtyard fountain.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026 -
The office said several hundred detectives and agents are on the case.—
NBC News,
NBC news,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Some accusations couldn't be verified, investigators wrote.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
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The sheriff’s department posted on social media to say access was restricted to the road in front of the home to give investigators space.—
Christopher Weber,
Twin Cities,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The recipients spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on private detectives and expert analysis.—
Ben Taub,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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The publisher has argued that evidence from private detectives can't be trusted.—
Ramy Inocencio,
CBS News,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Her family in 2018 also engaged in a legal battle with OPD in order to access records that their private investigators could use in a search.—
Silas Morgan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Jan. 2026
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The celebrities allege that the company illegally spied on them by hiring private investigators to hack their phones, bug their cars and access private records.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Private eyes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/private%20eyes. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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