Meanings
shamus1
plural shamuses · plural shami
- USslangA private detective; originally, a policeman or police detective.
“That's what you're here for. Didn't your aunt tell you? She wants you to follow Wilbert Cream and Phyllis about everywhere and see that he doesn't get a chance of proposing.” “You mean that I'm to be a sort of private eye or shamus, tailing them up? I don't like it,” I said dubiously.
1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IV
Shamus2
- alternativeAlternative spelling of Seamus.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomeone who can be employed as a detective to collect information and assist in criminal investigations
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Said to be from the Irish name Séamus, on account of many American police officers being of Irish descent.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shamus
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
shamus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamus
“shamus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamus. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shamus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamus.
Source: shamus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.