goldfish bowl

British  

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

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goldfish bowl Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

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.

From BBC • Aug. 24, 2025

“It’s understandable that Prince Harry chose to leave and pursue a private life. What happens if Prince George thinks that Uncle Harry was right and it’s not worth living in a goldfish bowl? What then?”

From Washington Post • May 2, 2023

"They cannot escape the goldfish bowl they grew up in, and only they can truly understand what’s it really like to be raised that way," he said.

From Fox News • Mar. 23, 2022

Their lives can take unexpected turns, which most definitely aren’t on brand; they may get burnt out, or simply stop wanting to live in a goldfish bowl round the clock.

From The Guardian • Apr. 18, 2019

He loved it in the toilet, because the toilet was bigger than the goldfish bowl.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry