beholder
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beholder
Explanation
A beholder is an observer: someone who gains awareness of things through the senses, especially sight. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the person who is observing gets to decide what is beautiful. A common saying is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," which means beauty doesn't exist on its own but is created by observers. That famous quote can help you remember that a beholder is someone who sees or otherwise experiences things, becoming aware of them. To be a beholder, you have to pay attention. Different beholders might take in different aspects of the same event, like witnesses to a crime.
Vocabulary lists containing beholder
The Devil in the White City
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A Wizard of Earthsea
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Wishtree
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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.
Bot Beholder: Morgan Stanley just got its first chief robot strategist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026
“He was very blessed, and he knew it,” said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who rode Beholder once.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2021
Ariana Grande entered The Twilight Zone this year, recreating what can only be described as a pig-ish face from "Eye of the Beholder", an episode from the series that originally aired in 1960.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2019
She is four-for-10 lifetime and was fourth last out in the Beholder Mile on March 30 at Santa Anita.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2019
The Colours paint themselves on the Fancy, with very little Attention of Thought or Application of Mind in the Beholder.
From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Addison, Joseph
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.
