eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs 

: one who sees an occurrence or an object

especially : one who gives a report on what he or she has seen

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

Without the insight of law enforcement and the eyewitness accounts directly from Dylan and Bethany, Galkin and Garbus leaned even more heavily into the stories of the victims. —Hunter Ingram, Variety, 11 July 2025

According to eyewitness testimony and post-wreck analysis, the Titanic took approximately two hours and 40 minutes to sink after crashing into an iceberg — not fast enough for Eric Braeden. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 July 2025

Meteorologists also rely on eyewitness accounts to confirm that a flood event is actually happening, Fogarty, the meteorologist, said. —Rick Jervis, USA Today, 7 July 2025

The three-episode production includes rare archival footage and recordings of Jones, along with survivor and eyewitness interviews. —R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

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