observer
Americannoun
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observers
plural
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someone or something that observes.
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a delegate to an assembly or gathering, who is sent to observe and report but not to take part officially in its activities.
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U.S. Air Force.
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a member of an aircrew, other than the pilot, holding an aeronautical rating.
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a person who maintains observation in an aircraft during flight.
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Also called air observer, aircraft observer. U.S. Army. a person who serves in an aircraft as a reconnoiterer and directs artillery fire.
noun
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a person or thing that observes
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a person who attends a conference solely to note the proceedings
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a person trained to identify aircraft, esp, formerly, a member of an aircrew
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of observer
Explanation
An observer is someone who watches or pays attention to something — if you're an observer of current events, you probably watch the news and read the newspaper every day to keep up with what's going on. You can be an accidental observer of something, like pedestrians who happen to witness an accident and become observers of it. Another kind of observer is one who notices things deliberately, like political observers who watch and comment on various events. Many newspapers once had the word observer in their names, from this second sense of the word. The verb observe has a Latin root, observare, which means "watch over, note, heed, or attend to."
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:
Kim Cooper, a close observer of downtown politics and co-owner of Esotouric tours, said that after a while, it seemed that the hotel’s owner, the Chetrit Group, “just locked the door.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Saturday's itinerary varies widely depending on the location, from a music festival in Los Angeles and a march to the Supreme Court in Washington, to family-friendly workshops in Chicago and election observer training in Atlanta.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
If the Catalan was a neutral observer, he would have relished a game of glorious chaos, the first half embellished by PSG before City mounted superb momentum after the break.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
If you want to find an observer singing from the same hymn sheet, sooner or later you will hit pay dirt.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
And though few of them have met before, by the time the plats principaux are cleared, an observer would have thought that they had known each other for ages.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
However, Carrick does take issue with some of the claims made about his team by former professionals and casual observers.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
But it was slower than some peers to reinvest in expanding its business and cut lawyers when the bankruptcy work dried up, according to legal industry observers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
He and 12 other House members successfully sued the Trump administration after he was blocked from entering a detention facility and has said he trained legal observers to document ICE abuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The illuminated exhaust plumes were visible across the eastern United States, giving observers a remarkable view of the rocket's journey into space.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
Many observers were waylaid by war, sickness, or shipwreck.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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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.
