detective
Spanish, noun/deteɡˈtibe/
detective is spelled D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E (9 letters) and appears 6.5 times per million words in written Spanish, the 9,952nd most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Detective is a Spanish feminine noun meaning “detective” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un…”.
What does detective mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininemasculinedetective
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Oficial de policía o investigador privado cuya función es buscar información como evidencia para resolver un crimen.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of detective
- detectives plural
- detectiva feminine
- detectivas feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce detective?
- /deteɡˈtibe/
- [d̪e.t̪eɣ̞ˈt̪i.β̞e]
- [d̪et̪ekˈt̪iβ̞e]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to detective
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is detective in Spanish?
detective appears 6.5 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).