eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs 

: one who sees an occurrence or an object

especially : one who gives a report of what has happened

Examples of eyewitness in a Sentence

The police are hoping to locate an eyewitness to the shooting.

He was able to give an eyewitness account of the shooting.

Recent Examples on the Web

Video footage and eyewitness accounts have raised serious questions about the justification for lethal force. —Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026

The encounter was recorded by eyewitnesses, and videos circulated widely on social media throughout the weekend. —Julia Ainsley, NBC news, 26 Jan. 2026

In some ways, the eyewitness videos have been a rebuttal to ICE’s formidable video production machine, which some commentators have likened to propaganda. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 25 Jan. 2026

At some point, as shown in eyewitness video obtained by Bay Area News Group, Husien is seen briefly entering the police vehicle before getting out and running west toward the Highway 87 underpass. —Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for eyewitness

• fitness
• witness
• unfitness

Kids Definition

eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness -ˈwit-nəs 

: a person who sees an occurrence and is able to give a report of it

Legal Definition

eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness

: one who sees an occurrence or object or sometimes experiences it through other senses (as hearing) and usually reports or testifies about it