noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A spectator; someone looks on or watches, without becoming involved or participating.

   "I wasn’t involved in the fight; I was only an onlooker."

2. 2
   someone who looks on wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bystanderabutteradjoinerbeholderbird-watcherborderer

Example

More examples

"This onlooker almost got in the way of the fire truck."

Etymology

From on + look + -er, probably from the verb look on, but compare with onlook.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.