goldfish bowl

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

Inside the goldfish bowl it can look like Martin is doomed.

Read more on BBC

They don't reside in the goldfish bowl, they are not susceptible to the howls of protest from fans - the players booed off again - so they're distant and maybe more patient as a consequence.

Read more on BBC

Uploaded by a fan, it's illustrated by a drawing of a girl with her head in an upturned goldfish bowl.

Read more on BBC

"We know what the goldfish bowl is like in Glasgow and when you don't have a good performance, you're the worst in the world."

Read more on BBC

Evans, who has spoken openly about his mental health struggles said three-time champion Jones taught him a lot about being in the "goldfish bowl".

Read more on BBC