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voyeur

[vwah-yur, voi-; French vwa-yœr]
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noun, plural vo·yeurs [vwah-yurz, voi-; French vwa-yœr] /vwɑˈyɜrz, vɔɪ-; French vwaˈyœr/.
  1. a person who engages in voyeurism.
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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

Examples from the Web for voyeur

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. a person who obtains sexual pleasure or excitement from the observation of someone undressing, having intercourse, etc
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Derived Formsvoyeurism, nounvoyeuristic, adjectivevoyeuristically, adverb

Word Origin

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

n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
voyeur in Medicine

voyeur

(voi-yûr′)
n.
  1. A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or sexual acts of others, especially from a secret vantage point.
  2. An obsessive observer of sordid or sensational subjects.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.