kibitzer

noun

ˈki-bət-sər How to pronounce kibitzer (audio)
variants also kibbitzer
Definition of kibitzernext
as in intruder
a person who meddles in the affairs of others a nosy kibitzer who always knows who is dating whom

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 kibitzer At times, a dozen kibitzers looked on. — IEEE Spectrum, 11 Dec. 2025 Still, there are boundaries to keep the kibitzers out of the law library, operating room and locker room so the experts can get the job done. — Karla L. Miller, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Feb. 2023 These two teamed up on morning radio in 1946 to invent the celebrity-interview talk show, featuring a gamut of guests from Hollywood mermaid Esther Williams to kibitzer-to-presidents Bernard Baruch. — Edward Kosner, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022 The problem is partly a failure to appreciate that the Radicals were kibitzers, as many legislators are. — Andrew Ferguson, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kibitzer
  1. intruder
  2. gossiper
  3. meddler
  4. interloper
  5. busybody
  6. buttinsky
  7. spy
  8. informer
Noun
  • Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology note that an intruder could replace legitimate control instructions with malicious commands.
    — William Akoto, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Authorities are looking for help identifying the masked intruder who appeared on Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera on the night of her abduction as well as the sender of the notes.
    — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of intruder
Noun
  • Celebrity gossiper Rob Shuter reported that the two recently let go of a number of their staff.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Her staff figured out how to get rid of the gossiper.
    — Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 10 Aug. 2025
Definition of gossiper
Noun
  • Nelly herself is heavily reinterpreted by Fennell, imagined in this film as the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat who serves as Cathy’s maid; the film also runs with modern readings of her character as a more proactive meddler in the doomed love between the main characters.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The factory owners called her a meddler and insisted that the cost of protecting workers would destroy American industry.
    — Michelle A. Williams, STAT, 2 Feb. 2026
Definition of meddler
Noun
  • That interloper was Shadow, who became Jackie's steadfast mate right up until her hospitalization last month.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The interlopers were contrabandistas, Native Pacific Northwesterners brought by American merchants operating out of Hawaii and heading to the Mexican coast to hunt otters without a license.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 29 July 2026
Definition of interloper
Noun
  • On 227, Williams starred as Lester Jenkins, who has his own construction company in support of his busybody wife, Mary (Gibbs), and their studious daughter, Brenda (Regina King).
    — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026
  • Since her ballerina kindergarten years, Sukihana—the rapper, reality television star, podcaster, and soon-to-be mom of four—has been a polymathic busybody.
    — Meagan Jordan, VIBE.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of busybody
Noun
  • Rather, the story is set in motion by Kevin O’Neill (Rick Holmes), a private-equity manager and arrogant buttinsky who takes an interest in Cara.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 6 June 2018
Definition of buttinsky
Noun
  • In interviews with federal agents and later with CNN, his family dismissed the notion that Beloozerov may have been a spy.
    — Isabelle Chapman, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Margaretha Zelle MacLeod’s stage name came to signify the epitome of the seductive female spy after she was executed by the French in 1917.
    — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of spy
Noun
  • One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.
    — Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026
  • And so every regime invests in having student informers.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of informer

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Cite this Entry

“Kibitzer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kibitzer. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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