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Synonyms
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
He was intrigued by the private eye character, envisioning the role as a Sydney Greenstreet type with a Panama suit and hat.
—Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Mar. 2024
John Oates is proud of his time as one half of the musical duo Hall & Oates, but these days his private eyes are looking forward, not back.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 27 Dec. 2023
With the release of Shaft the previous summer, Black audiences had responded rapturously to John Shaft, the lady-killing, leather-trench-coat-wearing private eye played by Richard Roundtree.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024
Since then, Parks has dated casually, but she's mostly kept her romances away from the private eye.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 15 Feb. 2024
New investigations by the district attorney’s office and the former detective turned private eye, who worked pro bono, uncovered the actual killer and the events that took place on Sept. 2, 2000.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Like a private eye sizing up the details of a dicey new case, Joe Ide took the call from the Raymond Chandler Estate with a healthy amount of hesitation.
—Nate Rogers, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2024
Set in the 1970s, The Nice Guys stars Gosling as down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March, who reluctantly teams up with an enforcer (Russell Crowe) to search for a missing girl and look into the mysterious death of an adult film star.
—Sophie Van Bastelaer, EW.com, 14 July 2023
Qualley will play a private eye, Plaza will star as a mysterious woman and Evans will portray the leader of a cult.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'private eye.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1938, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near private eye
Cite this Entry
“Private eye.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/private%20eye. Accessed 14 May. 2024.
Legal Definition
private eye
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