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

The footage, taken by an eyewitness in a passing vehicle and obtained by The Wall Street Journal, shows a man in dark clothing with what appears to be a revolver in his hand, as two Guardsmen scramble for cover. —Michael Dorgan , Greg Norman , Madeleine Rivera, FOXNews.com, 29 Nov. 2025

Advertisement Reaction to the film Ut’s lawyer maintains that AP staffers and eyewitnesses from competing news organizations in Trảng Bàng on June 8, 1972, believe Ut took the photo. —Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 28 Nov. 2025

Bocca Aperta jacked up into the air right in the pope’s quarters—as testified to, again, by multiple eyewitnesses. —Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025

An eyewitness video showed the moment that Indian fighter jet Tejas crashed and burst into flames on Friday (November 21) during an aerial display at Dubai Air Show. —CBS News, 21 Nov. 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