noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Someone who watches or observes.; Someone who observes something closely for professional reasons, such as an analyst or pundit.
2. 2
   a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind) wordnet
3. 3
   Someone who watches or observes.; A political representative aligned with a candidate sent to observe elections to report on irregularities. A scrutineer. US
4. 4
   a person who keeps a devotional vigil by a sick bed or by a dead body wordnet
5. 5
   Someone who keeps vigil.

Show 3 more definitions

6. 6
   a guard who keeps watch wordnet
7. 7
   A guard.

   "Near-synonyms: watchman, watchwoman"

8. 8
   A kind of angel appointed to watch over the human realm, in particular one of those who became fallen angels and begot the Nephilim. Judaism, historical

   "the Book of Watchers"

Synonyms

All synonyms

spectatorwatchmanairplane spotterargusbeholderbird-watcher

Example

More examples

"Tom's a keen hiker and bird watcher."

Etymology

From Middle English wacchere, wachere, wacher, equivalent to watch + -er.

Related phrases

China watcherbinge-watcherbird watcherchef watcherclock watcherclock-watcherhate-watcherhorse-watchershark watcherweight-watcherwhale watcher

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