onlookers

plural of onlooker
as in spectators
someone who sees or watches something several onlookers gave chase after the thief grabbed the woman's purse

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 onlookers With a hundred or so onlookers seated in chairs positioned in a semicircle in the library lobby, the contestants took turns busting rhymes. Jeff Pearlman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025 The Owensboro news media and some white onlookers insist that when the lady sheriff didn’t show up to act as executioner, there was anger in the press’s unmet expectations, which then was taken out on the crowd, with the reporters lying about the audience’s unruly behavior. Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025 The curious sight of a large ship so close to shore had drawn no onlookers at all. Samanth Subramanian, The Dial, 14 Oct. 2025 In a video circulated late on Monday, Hamas fighters dragged seven men with their hands tied behind their backs into a Gaza City square, forced them to their knees and shot them from behind, as dozens of onlookers watched from nearby storefronts. Maayan Lubell, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025 Live video showed a convoy of five Red Cross vehicles carrying the remaining hostages leaving Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to the cheers of onlookers and surrounded by Hamas officers. Yamiche Alcindor, NBC news, 14 Oct. 2025 There’s Maye, who continues to leave onlookers no option but to believe his Year 2 leap is real and spectacular. Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 14 Oct. 2025 Images published by The Sun show police officers and investigators in high-visibility vests inspecting the area as onlookers gathered nearby. Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025 Jurors, journalists and scores of public onlookers obsessively dissected the case. Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 12 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for onlookers
Noun
  • Phone calls were made and spectators just started showing up, hoping to witness history, Kraye said.
    Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Located in Santa Barbara County, Vandenberg has become well-known among spectators who are eager to see rockets thundering high into the sky.
    Eric Lagatta, AZCentral.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The jacket was identified by public observers and Loro Piana was heavily criticized on social media for not condemning Putin.
    Steve Salter, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Political observers say Sheffield’s achievements are notable for a council member who was more progressive and radical in her ideas in a city with a strong-mayor form of government and law department that serves both the mayor and the council.
    Violet Ikonomova, Freep.com, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • However, since the announcement, discourse around who should and shouldn’t be given wings exposed just how stuck in the past some viewers still are.
    Essence, Essence, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The speaker of the House has made dozens of media appearances since, even appearing on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to take calls from viewers, which a speaker hasn’t done in over two decades.
    Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Onlookers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/onlookers. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on onlookers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!