peanut gallery

noun

1

: the upper balcony of a theater

Carnegie Hall was packed, the balconies rising row on row, full, even to the "peanut gallery."

—Lady Bird Johnson

also : a section of cheap seats in a theater or the group of spectators seated there

I don't even get to sit with Megan since she's real high society and I'm just her … fiancée. I'll be down in the peanut gallery with the low-lifes …

—John Ringo

2

: a group of critics or commentators likened to spectators in the cheap seats of a theater

But even so, last year's adaptation … reaped more backlash from critics than its pop-blockbuster excellence deserved. The peanut gallery didn't like director Gary Ross's handheld camerawork …

—Ross Douthat

The announcement that "The Inheritance of Loss" had won the Booker was met (as these announcements always are) with a few gripes from the peanut gallery in Britain.

—Dwight Garner

Examples of peanut gallery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite noise from various peanut galleries about declining ticket sales, interest and influence, the Coachella Music and Artist Festival remains arguably the biggest music festival in the world and indisputably one of the biggest global platforms for recording artists. —Thania Garcia, Variety, 21 Apr. 2025

Even before fare like National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code, uncrackable codes have had a way of attracting the peanut gallery, and the oddity known as The Voynich Manuscript is no exception. —Peter Rubin, Longreads, 13 Aug. 2024

As Evans and the others sat back down, a cry came out from the back of the peanut gallery. —Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 28 Mar. 2025

There’s a rare moment of silence that follows, as though the work that Jake’s put in is worth holding dear, before the peanut gallery of random guys in the kitchen off to the side start booing. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for peanut gallery

• calorie
• galerie
• mallory
• salary