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spectator

spectator

123 2.6
A person who watches an event or show without taking part
  • noun
  • /ˈspɛkˌteɪtər/
translation icon : espectador
  • The science experiment drew a crowd of curious spectators eager to see the results.
  • spectator sport
  • spectators watching
  • crowd of spectators

Well, because the spectator is the end user.

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Examples

  • The next two hours, spectators experience the vertiginous pull and push of things.

  • A Western value is that you do not act as a spectator when you see injustice unfold around you.

  • And so I think for me, I felt like a spectator and I was like, I care about her too much.

  • Democracy is not a spectator sport.

  • Apparently one spectator asked, do boats like this sink often?

  • But we hope that he and the spectators are okay.

  • Still upstairs, I watched the celebration - a spectator once again, an outsider.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • There to witness this experiment were hundreds of spectators, many of them dubious of the whole enterprise.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Nearly 100,000 spectators hold their breath in anticipation.

  • When two kids fight in the high school cafeteria, a circle of spectators soon surrounds them.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

viewer
vsspectator
477 1.3

A person who watches TV or films

refers mainly to people who watch live events as part of an audience
observer
vsspectator
305 2.8

A person who watches and notices things, often to give expert opinion

is the general audience role without the expert or analytical focus
watcher
vsspectator
89 3.9

A person who watches a place or people to keep them safe

is a passive watching role as part of an audience rather than active monitoring
bystander
vsspectator
84 3.4

A person who watches an event but does not take part

usually means someone who deliberately attends and watches as an audience member
onlooker
vsspectator
24 3.2

A person who watches something without taking part

is used for someone who attends and watches as part of an audience
beholder
vsspectator
21 5.8

A person who looks at something

focuses on attending and watching events as part of an audience
looker-on
vsspectator
4.4

A person who watches an event without taking part

is used for someone who attends and watches as part of an audience
badaud
vsspectator
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who stands watching something out of idle curiosity and is easily impressed

describes ordinary audience watching without the idle or naive attitude

Antonyms

295 2.4

A person who joins an activity or event

Compounds

An activity many people enjoy watching live or on TV

A woman's shoe with a medium heel and different colored toe and heel

How Attentive

enthusiast
81 3.4
fan
1.0
spectator
123 2.6
viewer
477 1.3
onlooker
24 3.2
bystander
84 3.4

Surface Forms

spectator singular
spectators plural

Morphology

spectator = spectate (semi-transparent) = spect + ate + or

The step from 'spectate' (to watch) to 'spectator' is a regular agentive noun formation (verb + -or), so the immediate derivation is clear.

Etymology

Spectator comes from the Latin root spectare, which means 'to look' or 'watch'. It shares this root with spectacle, so a spectator is literally someone who 'looks' at an event, which is why it means a person who watches without taking part.