voyeur

[vwah-yur, voi-; French vwa-yœr]

See more synonyms for voyeur on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural vo·yeurs

[vwah-yurz, voi-; French vwa-yœr] /vwɑˈyɜrz, vɔɪ-; French vwaˈyœr/.

a person who engages in voyeurism.

Compare Peeping Tom.

Origin of voyeur

1915–20; < French, equivalent to voi(r) to see (< Latin vidēre) + -eur -eur

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for voyeur

watcher, peeper, scopophiliac, voyeur

Examples from the Web for voyeur

Contemporary Examples of voyeur

There is no better place in the world for a voyeur like me to be constantly amused.
Helmut Newton Book ‘World Without Men’ Returns
Isabel Wilkinson
April 2, 2013
A viewer of a Metsu scene should also feel like a participant in it, not like a remote, Vermeer-ish voyeur.
Gabriel Metsu, Vermeer's Forgotten Rival
Blake Gopnik
April 29, 2011
To hear Moore dissect that last scene, she was as much the voyeur of the moment as the participant.
Julianne Moore's Dangerous Beauty
Gina Piccalo
July 7, 2010
And as soon as that thing comes off, they better clear a path to the bar at Voyeur.
Lindsay Lohan Heads to Jail
Rebecca Dana
July 5, 2010
People want to know why a tab with an item called "Voyeur" in it wasn't flagged by the prudes at the RNC.
The GOP's Fiscally Responsible Strip-Club Bill
Tracy Quan
March 31, 2010

Historical Examples of voyeur

He ate with such visible pleasure that Perry felt like a voyeur.
Makers
Cory Doctorow
It was obviously not the case of a voyeur spying on others—not with the kind of excitement the running man had shown.
Eight Keys to Eden
Mark Irvin Clifton

British Dictionary definitions for voyeur

voyeur

noun

a person who obtains sexual pleasure or excitement from the observation of someone undressing, having intercourse, etc

Derived Formsvoyeurism, nounvoyeuristic, adjectivevoyeuristically, adverb

Word Origin for voyeur

C20: French, literally: one who sees, from voir to see, from Latin vidēre

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 voyeur

a scopophiliac, 1900, from French voyeur (1898), literally "one who views or inspects," from voir "to view," from Latin videre "to see" (see vision).

voyeur in Medicine

voyeur

[voi-yûr′]

A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or sexual acts of others, especially from a secret vantage point.
An obsessive observer of sordid or sensational subjects.