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

Although gang ties to Tupac’s killing had been suspected from the beginning, the search for the killer was long hampered by the refusal of potential eyewitnesses to testify. — Andy Rose, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026

As the only other living eyewitness who was in one of the two vehicles that night, Knight’s testimony could make or break the case. — Jessica Hill, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026

The judge also barred him from contacting Langdon’s family, his female coworker or any eyewitnesses to the hit-and-run, per KOMO News. — Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 9 Aug. 2026

This led to a deeper look into other factors contributing to wrongful convictions, including prosecutorial misconduct and mistaken eyewitness identifications, especially those made by witnesses with different racial backgrounds from the suspects. — Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 6 Aug. 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