Download the app
educalingo
Search
Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.
Arthur C. Clarke

Meaning of "detective" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF DETECTIVE

detective  [dɪˈtɛktɪv] play
facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsapp

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DETECTIVE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Detective can act as a noun and an adjective.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES DETECTIVE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a law enforcement agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes". Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records.

Definition of detective in the English dictionary

The first definition of detective in the dictionary is a police officer who investigates crimes. Other definition of detective is used in or serving for detection. Detective is also serving to detect.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH DETECTIVE


affective
əˈfɛktɪv
collective
kəˈlɛktɪv
corrective
kəˈrɛktɪv
cryoprotective
ˌkraɪəʊprəˈtɛktɪv
defective
dɪˈfɛktɪv
directive
dɪˈrɛktɪv
effective
ɪˈfɛktɪv
ineffective
ˌɪnɪˈfɛktɪv
irrespective
ˌɪrɪˈspɛktɪv
objective
əbˈdʒɛktɪv
overprotective
ˌəʊvəprəˈtɛktɪv
perspective
pəˈspɛktɪv
prospective
prəˈspɛktɪv
protective
prəˈtɛktɪv
reflective
rɪˈflɛktɪv
respective
rɪˈspɛktɪv
retrospective
ˌrɛtrəʊˈspɛktɪv
selective
sɪˈlɛktɪv
self-protective
ˌsɛlfprəˈtɛktɪv
subjective
səbˈdʒɛktɪv

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DETECTIVE

detect
detectability
detectable
detecter
detectible
detection
detective chief inspector
detective chief superintendent
detective constable
detective device
detective inspector
detective novel
detective sergeant
detective story
detective superintendent
detective work
detective-like
detectivist
detectophone
detector

WORDS THAT END LIKE DETECTIVE

active
addictive
adjective
alternative
attractive
conductive
constrictive
constructive
cost-effective
destructive
distinctive
inactive
interactive
predictive
proactive
productive
radioactive
reactive
reproductive
restrictive
seductive

Synonyms and antonyms of detective in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «DETECTIVE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «detective» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of detective

Translation of «detective» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF DETECTIVE

Find out the translation of detective to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of detective from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «detective» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

侦探
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

detective
570 millions of speakers

English

detective
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

जासूसी
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

مُخْبِر
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

сыщик
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

detetive
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

গোয়েন্দা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

détective
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Detektif
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Kriminalbeamter
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

刑事
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

탐정
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Detektif
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

thám tử
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

துப்பறியும்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

गुप्तहेर
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

dedektif
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

investigatore
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

detektyw
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

детектив
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

detectiv
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ιδιωτικός αστυνομικός
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

speurder
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

kriminalare
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

detektiv
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of detective

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DETECTIVE»

The term «detective» is very widely used and occupies the 9.908 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
96
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «detective» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of detective
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «detective».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DETECTIVE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «detective» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «detective» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about detective

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «DETECTIVE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word detective.
1
Sherman Austin
While I was in jail, they handcuffed me and took me to a backroom, where a detective from the FBI and a Secret Service agent were, and they interrogated me for about three or four hours.
2
Kevin Barry
In the early nineties, I was a cub reporter on a city newspaper in Limerick, and assigned to the courthouse there. One day, an old detective sergeant came and whispered to me in the press pit. He pointed out a young offender, a teenager who was up for stealing a car or something relatively minor, and said, 'See this kid? He'll kill.'
3
Stephanie Beatriz
I remember watching 'Colombo' a lot with my dad. That was one of the first detective shows I remember watching. And I remember my dad turning to me - my dad loves to turn to me and explain why things are funny. He used to do that with 'Seinfeld' all the time. He did it with 'Colombo', too, set the scene.
4
William Peter Blatty
I have never read horror, nor do I consider The Exorcist to be such, but rather as a suspenseful supernatural detective story, or paranormal police procedural.
5
Judy Blume
When I was growing up, I dreamed about becoming a cowgirl, a detective, a spy, a great actress, or a ballerina. Not a dentist, like my father, or a homemaker, like my mother - and certainly not a writer, although I always loved to read.
6
Craig Brown
The best critics do not worry about what the author might think. That would be like a detective worrying about what a suspect might think. Instead, they treat the reader as an intelligent friend, and describe the book as honestly, and as entertainingly, as possible.
7
John Buchan
Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective.
8
Chelsea Cain
I read a lot of 'Nancy Drew' books as a kid and considered myself a bit of an amateur detective.
9
Agatha Christie
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story.
10
Arthur C. Clarke
Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DETECTIVE»

Discover the use of detective in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to detective and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The King in Yellow
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process.
Robert W. Chambers, 2005
2
An Introduction to the Detective Story
This book is a no-apologies introduction to Detective Fiction.
LeRoy Panek, 1987
3
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it.
Douglas Adams, 2013
4
Detective: The Inspirational Story of the Trailblazing Woman ...
Shares the personal story of the New York City police department's most highly decorated woman detective to recount her achievements as well as the landmark federal lawsuit filed by the author against the department for sexual ...
Kathy Burke, 2006
5
Diversity and Detective Fiction
The first collection to articulate the pedagogical strategies of using detective fiction to investigate the politics of difference.
Kathleen Gregory Klein, 1999
6
The Woman Detective: Gender & Genre
Adds sixty female private eyes to the roster and includes an afterword that assesses the state of the genre's novels.
Kathleen Gregory Klein, 1995
7
The Reader and the Detective Story
The Reader and the Detective Story is unique—it treats the detective story as a special case of reading, governed by special rules and shaped by a highly specialized formula.
George N. Dove, 1997
8
British Women Mystery Writers: Authors of Detective Fiction ...
And, confusingly, many of the British women detectives who have made it to American television are far from typical of the latest women detectives. This work is a study of British detective fiction with female protagonists written by women.
Mary Hadley, 2002
9
Detective Agency: Women Rewriting the Hard-Boiled Tradition
Authors of these works are powerful players in the publishing system as well as agents of cultural intervention, Walton and Jones claim. They conclude by examining the rise of female detectives in television and film.
Priscilla L. Walton, Manina Jones, 1999
10
Detecting Texts: The Metaphysical Detective Story from Poe ...
"No currently available anthology addresses the topic of the metaphysical detective story so directly, so fully, or so relevantly."—Brian McHale, West Virginia University
Patricia Merivale, Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DETECTIVE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term detective is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Police insider said Chicago detective beat confession from rape …
"What I see is a detective who knows about Kato's background and saw this as so beyond the pale they couldn't keep quiet," Russell Ainsworth, ... «Chicago Tribune, Jul 15»
2
True Detective season 2 based on the very real California city of …
Fans of True Detective who are disappointed in the new season of the wildly popular HBO drama may be surprised to know that the corrupt city ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»
3
Is 'True Detective' Based on This Obscure Cartoon? | | Observer
I'm going to describe a plot to you, and I want you to close your eyes and tell me if it sounds familiar. Well, don't “literally” close your eyes, ... «New York Observer, Jul 15»
4
John Doyle: True Detective and the public's problem with pessimism …
Still, True Detective irritates and perplexes many viewers and some critics. The three main cop figures and mobster Frank (Vince Vaughn) are ... «The Globe and Mail, Jul 15»
5
True Detective Season 2: Vince Vaughn opens up on Frank Semyon …
Following Season 2's premiere, each episode of True Detective has gone on to focus in depth on one of the four principal leads. This week, it ... «melty.com, Jul 15»
6
Rumor: True Detective's Rachel McAdams to Join Marvel?
Rachel McAdams is doing a seriously impressive job on True Detective. Much like Vince Vaughn, some thought that Rachel McAdams wouldn't ... «True Detective Rumors, Jul 15»
7
Don't Expect True Detective at San Diego Comic Con
With that said, don't expect to see any True Detective presence in San Diego this year. Not only has season two of True Detective moved away ... «True Detective Rumors, Jul 15»
8
Tanner High SRO promoted to detective - Decatur Daily: News
Emily Lewter sits in the Limestone County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday. She is the second female officer promoted to detective with the ... «The Decatur Daily, Jul 15»
9
True Detective's High-Speed Rail Plot Line is a Little Off the Mark …
By now, everyone knows that the second season of HBO's True Detective takes place in a town loosely based on the California city of Vernon, ... «L.A. Weekly, Jul 15»
10
'True Detective' Greek Mythology References Hint That Ani & The …
Although I'm rarely correct, I've been known to come up with some mean theories for True Detective. A few episodes deep into Season 2, and I've already ... «Bustle, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Detective [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/detective>. Apr 2024 ».
Download the educalingo app
en
English dictionary
Discover all that is hidden in the words on
index
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z