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:
The researchers' alternative mathematical framework introduces a center of spherical symmetry, raising questions about where an observer would need to be located for the model to agree with observations.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
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
Well, it would be hard to imagine any observer, in the years before World War I when they began to appear, declaring that they had no personality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Geyer and Schnooks immediately set out for Miss Hill’s residence and found her to be an acute observer and a willing gossip.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Several crypto industry observers had flagged concerns about a potential hack on Binance hours before the exchange confirmed the attack.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
So it’s time for prognosticators, observers, gadflies and political junkies to share their predictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
China's President Xi Jinping opened a key meeting of Communist Party elites in Beijing on Monday, state media said, which observers will be closely watching for clues as to the country's direction and future leadership.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
It’s about everything everywhere all at once or, to more cynical observers, about nothing in particular.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026
Since the speed of the light is just the distance it has traveled divided by the time it has taken, different observers would measure different speeds for the light.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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