fishbowl
Americannoun
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a glass bowl for goldfish, snails, etc.
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a place, job, or condition in which one's activities are open to public view or scrutiny.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fishbowl
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:
It’s made her feel both proud and anxious, she said — and a bit like being in a fishbowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025
We see some guileless part of ourselves within him — a half-formed reflection in his goldfish Dorothy’s fishbowl that’s been crusted over by the steady gnawing of time.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2024
"The fishbowl -- not the fish -- needs to change."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2024
Inside a fishbowl, the goldfish — a species of carp native to East Asia, bred for aesthetic delight and traditionally believed to bring good fortune — is hardly more than home décor.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
There was no privacy in Dalgard’s office; it was a fishbowl.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
They're found in fishbowls on hostess stands in New Jersey diners, Chicago rib joints and the Ahwahnee Hotel's restaurant in Yosemite — all places that emit a kind of old-school cool.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2023
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr. Cook was an employee at Wando’s, a bar on campus known for serving mixed drinks in fishbowls.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2016
As a youth, Antheil practiced the piano up to 20 hours per day, soaking his hands afterward in fishbowls of cold water to ease the swelling.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2011
Check off the punch list of items in this manifest: 1. a world governed by a race of wise elders, perched on high columns and with their desiccated faces in fishbowls; cf.
From Time ● Jun. 16, 2011
My vision fishbowls like we’ve taken too fast a turn in the hovercar.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
