different between detective vs whodunit

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??t?kt?v/
• Rhymes: -?kt?v

Noun

detective (plural detectives)

1. (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator.
2. A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.

Synonyms

• (law enforcement): DT (abbreviation), Det (abbreviation)
• (person employed to find information): private detective, private investigator
• (person employed to find information): (slang) dick, private dick
• sleuth

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

detective (not comparable)

1. Employed in detecting.

Asturian

Noun

detective m or f (plural detectives)

1. detective

Galician

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. detective

Further reading

• “detective” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Noun

detective m (plural detectives)

1. Alternative form of detetive

Spanish

Etymology

From English detective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dete??tibe/, [d?e.t?e???t?i.??e]

Noun

detective m or f (plural detectives)

1. detective

Usage notes

• detective may be masculine or feminine, but the less common detectiva exists for female detectives as well.

Derived terms

• detective privado
• detectivesco

Further reading

• “detective” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Alternative forms

• whodunnit

Etymology

Coined by critic Donald Gordon in 1930. Alteration of who done it?

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?hu??d?n.?t/

Noun

whodunit (plural whodunits)

1. A novel or drama concerning a crime (usually a murder) in which a detective follows clues to determine the perpetrator.
   • 1946, Josephina Niggli. Pointers on radio writing (Boston: The Writer, Inc.) page 25

     Actually, an whodunit is a mystery story. The hero is generally a detective, although sometimes he is a gentleman (apparently a mild mannered worm) who sallies forth at night to become Public Enemy No. One of Crime. Otherwise, the formula is exactly the same as that of the Cliff-hanger and follows the same rules.

Synonyms

(A fictional story of a crime which a detective solves): detective novel, detective story, mystery story

Hypernyms

(A fictional story of a crime which a detective solves): thriller

Related terms

• howdunit
• wheredunit
• whydunit

Translations

References

• Oxford Dictionaries [1]

See also

• police procedural

Anagrams

• howdunit