detective

CEFRA2

/dɪˈtɛktɪv/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person whose job is to investigate crimes.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

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

Examples

  • Holmes is a great pipe man as well as a great detective.

  • The thief ran away at the sight of a detective.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Employed in detecting.

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

More examples

In context

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

  • 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...

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

The seasoned blank examined the footprints near the broken window.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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. By surface analysis, detect + -ive.