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

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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 onlookers Photos taken of family members, celebrities, sketchbooks, and Pokémon cards are displayed so onlookers can further understand his journey of vulnerability from adolescence to now. Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 9 Apr. 2025 Subsequently, more onlookers are paying attention to incidents including equipment failures, troubled takeoffs and shaky landings. Essence, 9 Apr. 2025 Woll may strike onlookers as more of a stereotypical goalie who lives in his head. Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025 Emergency crews carried black body bags from a burning apartment building as onlookers wept and hugged in the dark. Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2025 Cast members appear to be ushering the onlookers towards the park exit in some of the clips. Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 4 Apr. 2025 His teams supplied food and water to relief workers and gave comfort to panicked onlookers. Jenny Adams, AFAR Media, 3 Apr. 2025 Near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market, the 33-story building under construction, with a crane on top, crumpled into a cloud of dust, and onlookers could be seen screaming and running in other videos posted to social media. Christina Shaw, FOXNews.com, 28 Mar. 2025 One dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran. Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for onlookers
Noun
  • Fans and drama spectators alike pointed out during the film’s messy promotional cycle that Slate, actor Brandon Sklenar, and author Colleen Hoover unfollowed Baldoni on social media before the film’s premiere.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 24 Dec. 2024
  • Santos’ 6-2 victory was in front of more than 25,000 spectators.
    Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 23 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • This also required him to recognize the Clinton fatigue many observers believe cost Al Gore, his vice president, the 2000 presidential election.
    W. James Antle III, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
  • This is obvious enough that observers galaxies apart from one another have questioned how Khalil’s arrest could possibly align with the First Amendment.
    Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Netflix is planning on giving plenty of gifts to its viewers on Christmas Day – as long as everything goes to plan.
    Kaycee Sloan, The Enquirer, 24 Dec. 2024
  • According to a release from Netflix about the games and their music performances, the streaming service said viewers will be able to view Beyoncé through their Netflix account.
    Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Onlookers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/onlookers. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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