spectator
Americannoun
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spectators
plural
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a person who looks on or watches; onlooker; observer.
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a person who is present at and views a spectacle, display, or the like; member of an audience.
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Also called spectator shoe. a white shoe with a perforated wing tip and back trim, traditionally of dark brown, dark blue, or black but sometimes of a lighter color.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of spectator
1580–90; < Latin spectātor, equivalent to spectā ( re ), frequentative of specere to look, regard + -tor -tor
Explanation
If you're watching something, you're a spectator. Football stadiums and circus tents are full of spectators. The spectator is a particular kind of viewer; unlike a witness or an onlooker, they usually have chosen intentionally to regard the spectacle before them. Usually the word spectator refers to people watching games or "spectator sports," but you could be a spectator at any planned event. An easy way to remember this word is to think of spectacles, glasses used to view something clearly — both from the same Latin root spectare.
Vocabulary lists containing spectator
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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Maniac Magee
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
"Terribly sorry to the spectator, first of all," Medvedev said.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Archer was a spectator for some time after his initial struggle.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
While almost every spectator experiences stadium prayers as a moment of community, these efforts have often come under legal attack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
But occasionally, snobs don’t have a choice, such as when they’re sitting in the dark of a movie theater, where the viewer assumes the role of the spectator.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
She came and sat between myself and the children, and her head moved back and forth between us, like a spectator at a university debate.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Without us, there is no one to hoist blame upon when the film reveals its layers, no one to compare to the film’s wide-eyed spectators of global collapse.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
She said bad weather had turned some spectators off, but was eager to point out that some sports were well attended.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
The Tokyo organizers estimated that they lost $3 billion since the pandemic severely limited the number of spectators allowed to gather for events, eviscerating ticket sales and sponsorhip revenue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
A police barricade separated him from Ms. Townsend and other spectators outside his house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
As the games became more complex, the spectators, many of whom followed each game with their tiny pocket sets or leather chess wallets, discussed the vagaries of the positions in whispers.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
