investigations

noun

plural of investigation
as in inquiries
a systematic search for the truth or facts about something officials launched an extensive investigation of the plane crash

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 investigations The students also demanded changes in the judiciary and urgent investigations in top-level corruption cases that might have been sidelined due to political pressure under Vucic. — Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026 Voting by noncitizens has been shown by audits and investigations to be extremely rare. — Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026 Reid most recently served as CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent, covering the Justice Department, major federal investigations and the Supreme Court. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 Oct. 2026 Those operations focused on individualized investigations of specific people. — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026 Typically, the Justice Department has adhered to a practice of avoiding taking overt investigative steps in politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026 It's empowered to conduct investigations and instruct departments to withhold payments if there are credible allegations of fraud, among other duties. — Caroline Cummings, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 This research has informed federal investigations into the role of private equity in expanding access to medications for addiction treatment. — Yashaswini Singh, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026 Even so, should Democrats take back the House next month, Musk would face congressional investigations — and lawmakers would closely scrutinize any attempts to merge his companies. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for investigations
  1. inquiries
  2. examinations
  3. explorations
  4. studies
  5. probes
  6. researches
Noun
  • The track’s general manager, Rick Baugh, did not respond to multiple inquiries about ProPublica’s reporting, and one of the racing operation’s owners didn’t answer questions sent by email.
    — Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The inquiries sought explanations for the absences, clarification of the league’s anthem requirements and the teams’ plans for Game 3 on Wednesday night in Atlanta.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of inquiries
Noun
  • Specialists must evaluate a patient's symptoms, medical history, neurological examinations and imaging results to determine whether the disease is present.
    — Jasmine Arenas, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Jean also said at least a dozen children underwent medical examinations and that Osbeck lacked the documentation required to operate an orphanage.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of examinations
Noun
  • Both shows veer into surprisingly philosophical and meta explorations of love, memory, perception, and performance.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • For all its explorations of love and lust, Wicker doesn’t quite reach its freaky potential.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of explorations
Noun
  • Graham is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and a senior scientist at Gallup, whose World Poll supplied the data for her latest paper.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier studies collected nearly 200 kill dates from beneath them—not one is older than 2,000 years.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of studies
Noun
  • Over and over for years these probes would continue, burning through the resources of five bureaus to turn up exactly the same information in every report.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The administration has targeted universities across the country with probes and threats to pull federal funding in response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, diversity initiatives and transgender policies.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of probes
Noun
  • Melanie Challenger Melanie Challenger writes, researches, and broadcasts on the history of ideas, the history and philosophy of science, and the relationship between humans and the living world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Decades after researches first sequenced the human genome, scientists throughout the world are still working to understand it.
    — Gary Skuse, The Conversation, 28 Apr. 2026
Definition of researches

Browse Nearby Words

investigation
investigations
investigative
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Investigations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/investigations. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wraith

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All