Definition of bystandernext
as in observer
someone who sees or watches something bystanders rushed to help the victim of the mugging

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bystander The killing, captured on bystander video, sparked protests in 2020 as part of a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice. Riley Moser, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 Another bystander was able to grab the gun before police arrived, the records say. Harry Harris, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026 The American Academy of Pediatrics recognized this shift in a landmark 2016 policy statement calling for pediatricians to actively engage fathers as caregivers, not bystanders. Nishant Pandya, STAT, 17 Aug. 2026 Hours later, a bystander called police to report an unresponsive baby inside a locked car. Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bystander
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bystander
Noun
  • Sullivan spoke with attorneys at sidebar about the request, but the discussion was inaudible to observers in the courtroom at Plymouth Superior Court.
    Melina Khan, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
  • To the outside observer, the hearing for the soft-spoken man with the graying mustache may have seemed like any other, save for the FBI agents from the public corruption squad sitting in the back.
    Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • That’s more than 100,000 spectators a day filling the stands.
    Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
  • That same year, a spectator was struck by a stray bullet during a night match, and Jimmy Connors lunged at a photographer after losing in the final.
    Ben Ryder Howe, Curbed, 21 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • As Moreno digested how viewers had responded to Love Island, she was gobsmacked.
    Paula Mejía, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The expansion comes as pro-Trump media faces headwinds and the broader industry runs into changing viewer habits.
    Josh Feldman, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bystander.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bystander. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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