onlooker
Americannoun
-
onlookers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of onlooker
Explanation
An onlooker is someone who watches something but isn't directly involved in it. The spectators at a boxing match or a dog show or a marathon are all onlookers. If you observe an event but you don't participate in it, you're an onlooker. The event itself might be a performance of some kind, like a concert or a football match, or it might be some undesirable occurrence: "The firefighters battled the blaze while onlookers watched in horror." Onlooker dates from the early seventeenth century, from the sense of "looking on."
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 King and Queen arrived last and one onlooker was heard shouting "God bless the King".
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026
“How’s the weather been?” he asked one onlooker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
Sunday's spectacle drew crowds of hundreds, with onlooker Richard Bode, 34, calling the event a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."
From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026
An onlooker warned the agents, “You gonna let him die.”
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026
The appalling broad orange-and-green check of the jacket and trousers almost blinded the onlooker.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
She had had a fright and could not even deal with the concern and empathy of onlookers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Despite air traffic disruption, August's eruption drew large crowds of onlookers to Etna's lava flows.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
After years of disrepair, the once opulent Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino came tumbling down to cheers from onlookers who had all paid $10 to watch the demolition from their cars.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Outside the courthouse, they embraced one another with a deep, 10-second kiss in front of a pack of journalists and onlookers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Several onlookers sniggered; Hermione gave a tinkling laugh and said, “There’s a table over here... Coming, Ginny?”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
