onlooker
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of onlooker
Explanation
An onlooker is someone who watches something but isn't directly involved in it. The spectators at a boxing match or a dog show or a marathon are all onlookers. If you observe an event but you don't participate in it, you're an onlooker. The event itself might be a performance of some kind, like a concert or a football match, or it might be some undesirable occurrence: "The firefighters battled the blaze while onlookers watched in horror." Onlooker dates from the early seventeenth century, from the sense of "looking on."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Onlooker Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter, urges officers to check his pulse.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 19, 2021
One online commenter calling themselves Onlooker Pharaoh said on Chinese news platform Hupu that the risk was worth it: “Giving up wildlife to eat as food is like giving up eating because you might choke.”
From Reuters • Feb. 16, 2020
Onlooker Emily Poitras says the moose walked to the middle of one of the courses at a Lovell country club Sunday and stood there for around 5-10 minutes.
From Washington Times • Jun. 5, 2017
Onlooker asks Miller, Perry’s top handler who stands nearby, if things were as bad as they seemed.
From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2015
Onlooker: "A well-written, wholesome story telling of the Imperialism of deed as distinct from words."
From My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War by Van Breda, P.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
