US /ˈɒnˌlʊk.ə(ɹ)/ UK /ˈɒnˌlʊkə/
noun Freq #71786

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a person who watches an event without taking part

    Curious onlookers gathered outside the station.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a person who watches an... bystanderspectatorobserver
More looker-on
Opposites
Word family
Derived forms onlookers
Related forms look onwatcher

Etymology

From on plus look plus -er, probably influenced by the phrase look on. The word marks a watching role: present and attentive, but not directly involved.

Topics

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