goldfish bowl

British  

noun

1. Also called: fishbowl.  a glass bowl, typically spherical, in which fish are kept as pets

2. a place or situation open to observation by onlookers

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goldfish bowl Idioms  

1. A situation affording no privacy, as in Being in a goldfish bowl comes with the senator's job—there's no avoiding it. The glass bowl allowing one to view goldfish from every direction was transferred first, in the 1920s, to a police interrogation room equipped with a one-way mirror. By the mid-1900s the expression was being used more broadly.

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Example Sentences

“It’s understandable that Prince Harry chose to leave and pursue a private life. What happens if Prince George thinks that Uncle Harry was right and it’s not worth living in a goldfish bowl? What then?”

From Washington Post • May 2, 2023

His first days in Paris had been spent in the luxurious goldfish bowl that is the Le Royal Monceau hotel, where Lionel Messi also stayed a month later after signing with PSG.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2023

"They cannot escape the goldfish bowl they grew up in, and only they can truly understand what’s it really like to be raised that way," he said.

From Fox News • Mar. 23, 2022

Their lives can take unexpected turns, which most definitely aren’t on brand; they may get burnt out, or simply stop wanting to live in a goldfish bowl round the clock.

From The Guardian • Apr. 18, 2019

Moonlight misted over the rough floors and made the sparse room glow silver, the goldfish bowl looking like a second moon.

From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin