spectator

[ spek-tey-ter, spek-tey- ]

noun

1. a person who looks on or watches; onlooker; observer.
2. a person who is present at and views a spectacle, display, or the like; member of an audience.
3. Also called spectator shoe. a white shoe with a perforated wing tip and back trim, traditionally of dark brown, dark blue, or black but sometimes of a lighter color.

spectator

/ spɛkˈteɪtə /

noun

1. a person viewing anything; onlooker; observer

Other Words From

• spec·ta·to·ri·al [spek-t, uh, -, tawr, -ee-, uh, l, -, tohr, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of spectator¹

1580–90; < Latin spectātor, equivalent to spectā ( re ), frequentative of specere to look, regard + -tor -tor

Word History and Origins

Origin of spectator¹

C16: from Latin, from spectāre to watch; see spectacle

Example Sentences

He said over the next several years it drew more and more race participants and spectators.

From Washington Blade

They’re skillfully adapting some of the devices honed in live performance over the years — namely, techniques to break the fourth wall and lure spectators into the show.

From Washington Post

Even so, being a spectator of this process is extremely exciting.

From Washington Blade

Employees at Capital One can mix with clients and senior leaders at cultural and spectator sporting events, in fitness classes, and at lunches.

From Fortune

The findings indicate that acorn woodpeckers are willing to invest an impressive amount of time and energy in these power struggles, whether they are warriors or spectators.

From Popular-Science

Boos came from some of the families and friends in the spectator seats.

From The Daily Beast

These days, authoritative feminist discourse is no longer just a spectator sport.

From The Daily Beast

He breaks down the divide between himself, as performer, and the fan, as spectator.

From The Daily Beast

Then one daring, possibly planted, spectator interrupted the show to profess her crush.

From The Daily Beast

“Bill Clinton provided a lot of laughter to me and to The American Spectator,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Nor was Mr. Bumbles gloom the only thing calculated to awaken a pleasing melancholy in the bosom of a spectator.

From Project Gutenberg

Old Warrender would lean on his daisy-spud a pleased spectator of the Arcadian scene.

From Project Gutenberg

From that day he must consider himself cut off from human beings, active life; he no longer lives—he is the spectator of life.

From Project Gutenberg

His face was, moreover, mottled with dusky spots, so that he reminded the spectator of a frog or a toad.

From Project Gutenberg

Happily in the pages of the ‘Tatler’ and ‘Spectator’ there is stored up for us the best and rarest of that quiet wisdom.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bystander
• fan
• moviegoer
• observer
• onlooker
• sports fan
• theatergoer
• viewer