private eye

noun

Synonyms of private eyenext
: private investigator

Synonyms of private eye

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of private eye in a Sentence

unable to get the interest of the police, they hired a private eye to find their missing daughter
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The Palladino Files – When legendary private eye Jack Palladino is murdered, one of his old targets, Ronan Farrow,takes up the case. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2026 Krysten Ritter plays Jessica Jones, a former superhero battling PTSD and working as a private eye. — David Faris, TheWeek, 20 Apr. 2026 Somewhere in the middle of this Los Angeles neo-noir, Colin Farrell’s quiet, well-dressed, cinema-loving private eye was revealed to be a blue-skinned alien — then the show just kept going, missing-persons mystery intact. — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 19 June 2026 In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. — Rick Ellis, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for private eye

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of private eye was in 1938

Rhymes for private eye

See All Rhymes for private eye

Browse Nearby Words

privateersman
private eye
private first class
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Private eye.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/private%20eye. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Legal Definition

private eye

noun
: private investigator
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All