The structure of 33 Si was studied by a one-neutron knockout reaction from a 34 Si beam at 98.5 MeV/u incident on a 9 Be target. The prompt γ-rays following the de-excitation of 33 Si were detected using the GRETINA γ-ray tracking array while the reaction residues were identified on an eventby-event basis in the focal plane of the S800 spectrometer at NSCL (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory). The presently derived spectroscopic factor values, C 2 S, for the 3/2 + and 1/2 + states, corresponding to a neutron removal from the 0d 3/2 and 1s 1/2 orbitals, agree with shell model calculations and point to a strong N = 20 shell closure. Three states arising from the more bound 0d 5/2 orbital are proposed, one of which is unbound by about 930 keV. The sensitivity of this experiment has also confirmed a weak population of 9/2 − and 11/2 − 1,2 final states, which originate from a higher-order process. This mechanism may also have populated, to some fraction, the 3/2 − and 7/2 − negative-parity states, which hinders a determination of the C 2 S values for knockout from the normally unoccupied 1p 3/2 and 0f 7/2 orbits.