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

One witness, Darryl Brown, then 16 and a friend of Miller’s, identified Miller as the killer — the sole eyewitness against Miller in the case. —Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 23 July 2025

Mortensen not only survived the brutal massacre, but is also the only eyewitness to have seen Kohberger at the scene of the crime. —Chris Spargo, People.com, 23 July 2025

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense units intercepted 13 drones flying toward the capital just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, with eyewitnesses reporting some of the devices had been short down 23 miles northwest of the city. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 July 2025

Testimony from an eyewitness also helped prosecutors win the case. —Ryan Oehrli july 9, Charlotte Observer, 9 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