Words / B2

in-VEST-ig-ayt-uh/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪtə/

An investigator examines a crime, accident, complaint, or research question: a police investigator; a private investigator. Investigate is the verb (already in the dictionary). The investigator asked who held the keys. News and science (principal investigator). Detective is more crime-fiction. Do not call a nosy neighbour an investigator.

Meaning

A person whose job is to examine a crime, accident, complaint, or research question.

Examples

• “The investigator asked who had the keys to the papers store.”
• “The principal investigator signed the ethics form, which is the research sense.”

Good to know

a police / private / principal investigator. Verb: investigate. Noun: investigation. News, labs, and complaints. Official examiner of facts.

Near in meaning

detective

New