viewer

[vyoo-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR viewer ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that views.

a person who watches television, often a devotee of television or of a particular kind of television program: a weekly show aimed at teenage viewers.

any of various optical devices to facilitate viewing, especially one that is small and boxlike with a magnifying lens, and sometimes a light source, in which a photographic transparency may be viewed.

an eyepiece or viewfinder.

an official inspector of property, public works, or the like.

Origin of viewer

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at view, -er¹

Related formsnon·view·er, nounun·der·view·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for viewer

watcher, observer, spectator, onlooker, deponent, seer, beholder, bystander, testimony, signer, testifier, proof, eyewitness, signatory, attestor, looker-on, corroborator

Examples from the Web for viewer

Contemporary Examples of viewer

No online art community is full of creative artists waiting to communicate with the viewer.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum
Daniel Genis
November 1, 2014
The best of art can communicate to its viewer across centuries.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum
Daniel Genis
November 1, 2014
Such a bridge between artwork and viewer could not have occurred with old footage of just any people.
In Hands of Hungarian Artist, Jewish Home Movies of the ’30s a Warning of Coming Holocaust
Daniel Genis
October 25, 2014
Art is often said to “speak” to its viewer, but it is rare for this to happen so viscerally and clearly.
In Hands of Hungarian Artist, Jewish Home Movies of the ’30s a Warning of Coming Holocaust
Daniel Genis
October 25, 2014
Their playful exhibitions are often meant to be interactive and instill a childlike sense of joy in the viewer.
New York City’s New Mystery Art Piece
Sara Sayed
September 22, 2014

Historical Examples of viewer

As long as there is plenty of flimflam to distract the viewer.
Toy Shop
Henry Maxwell Dempsey
Tulan's viewer gave a vivid picture of the receding fifth planet.
Tulan
Carroll Mather Capps
Donna scanned the observation record, then adjusted the viewer.
This World Must Die!
Horace Brown Fyfe
Had not the viewer prevented him, he would have made the attempt and perished.
Taking Tales
W.H.G. Kingston
Viewer's dropping the group now, so there's just one more I'd like you to notice.
Legacy
James H Schmitz

British Dictionary definitions for viewer

viewer

noun

a person who views something, esp television

any optical device by means of which something is viewed, esp one used for viewing photographic transparencies

law a person appointed by a court to inspect and report upon property, etc

Derived Formsviewership, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for viewer

early 15c., "civic official responsible for surveying property," agent noun from view (v.). Meaning "watcher of television" first recorded 1935, in place of earlier suggestion looker-in (1927).