peanut gallery
Americannoun
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Informal. the rearmost and cheapest section of seats in the balcony or the uppermost balcony of a theater.
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Slang. a source of insignificant criticism.
No remarks from the peanut gallery!
Usage
More context on peanut gallery First evidenced in the late 1800s, peanut gallery, as we explain in our definition above, is "the rearmost and cheapest section of seats in the balcony or the uppermost balcony of a theater."Apparently, the term takes its name from the people who sat there and ate peanuts. These people, who were often poor or Black, became stereotyped as rowdy—and this history gives the problematic peanut gallery classist and racist undertones. Beginning in the 1800s, peanut gallery started to spread as a slang term for a "source of insignificant criticism” by association with the behaviors of the stereotypical occupants of the peanut gallery. If knowing the history of peanut gallery has got you reflecting on your word choices, this slideshow, "These Common Words Have Offensive Histories," discusses many other words whose place in your vocab you may want to reconsider.
Etymology
Origin of peanut gallery
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
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.
In fight week, he bristled at the mention of criticism, describing detractors as a "peanut gallery that doesn't exist" and insisting the question of whether he belongs no longer concerns him.
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025
And, barring a stunning comeback, McIlroy will have the best possible response to the peanut gallery: for the second time in his career, he’ll have won the Ryder Cup on American turf.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 27, 2025
Bobby’s bickersome museum colleagues sometimes make up a charmingly intersectional peanut gallery and sometimes feel like an assortment of tokenizing punchlines.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 29, 2022
Failing to move a season's action quickly enough brings vociferous complaints from the peanut gallery.
From Salon • Dec. 6, 2021
A nonrestrictive relative clause is set offby commas, dashes, or parentheses, and expresses a comment from the peanut gallery, as in The pair of shoes, which cost five thousand dollars, was hideous.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
