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

Told through a complex mix of archival footage and contemporary interviews with eyewitnesses, Black Lions is an expansive history of Italy’s brutal colonial campaign in Ethiopia. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026

While Sweetpea and Ed Burgess were busy congratulating themselves for securing Tony Day’s damning eyewitness account of Tender’s fraudulence, Whitney threatened his man in Africa back into the fold. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026

Administration officials persisted in those claims even after their accounts were largely contradicted by eyewitness videos. —Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 16 Feb. 2026

The eyewitness testified in court and confirmed his identification of Moore, according to the preliminary hearing transcript. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 16 Feb. 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