voyeurism

noun

voy·​eur·​ism vwä-ˈyər-ˌi-zəm  vȯi-ˈər- 

: the desires or behavior of a voyeur: such as

a

: the practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others

Psychiatrists generally divide paraphilias into two groups: those focused on objects, like a foot fetish, and those focused on behaviors, like exhibitionism, voyeurism or frottage …

—Benedict Carey

Ward, if he was guilty of anything at all, was guilty of observation. Looking, or (if you will) leering and ogling are not normally considered indictable offenses in British courts of law, but they do shade over into voyeurism …

—Paul Thomas

also : the criminal act of surreptitiously viewing a person without their consent in a place where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy (such as a home or public bathroom) or of using a device (such as a camera) for the purpose of such viewing

A 21-year-old man has been charged with voyeurism for allegedly using his phone's camera to view the person using the restroom in the stall next to him in a dorm on the Notre Dame campus, according to court records.

—Melissa Hudson

b

: the practice of taking pleasure in observing something private, sordid, or scandalous

Now there's a volume for those who are … bored by the salacious voyeurism of tell-alls.

—Steven M. Zeitchik

Voyeurism allows us to experience all the excitement of disaster, catastrophe, and pain, to witness the most horrible human events, without any danger of feeling real pain.

—Gerald Mast

But the voice of the diarist … will always exert a fascination close to voyeurism.

—Rosellen Brown

Examples of voyeurism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The late Kim Ki-duk’s 3-Iron, for example, also featured characters who break into houses for laughs not larceny, but built something richer and stranger with the premise that touched on class, voyeurism and desire. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2024

Our intrinsic voyeurism means weapons of mass destruction hold a morbid fascination, and Ciralsky builds on this with descriptions that imply dark deeds and espionage—boarding the submarine on a stormy night amid high Atlantic seas. —Longreads, 23 Feb. 2024

That led to a second search warrant, which found probable cause that Ziegler had violated a state law against video voyeurism, a third-degree felony. —Lori Rozsa, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024

Mirasol has been charged with six state charges of voyeurism in Broward County. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 5 Mar. 2024

The 34-year-old also has six counts of video voyeurism, all third-degree felonies, state court records show. —Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024

He was indicted on two separate occasions on charges of video voyeurism as well as first- and third-degree rape. —Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 13 Mar. 2024

Mirasol is also facing six counts of video voyeurism, which are third-degree felonies, per state court records obtained by The Tampa Bay Times. —Emily Palmer, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024

But the cellphone video Ziegler took of the Oct. 2 incident has prompted a different allegation against him: video voyeurism. —Lori Rozsa, Washington Post, 19 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1913, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

voyeurism

noun

voy·​eur·​ism -ˌiz-əm 

: the tendencies or behavior of a voyeur