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Glite Dictionary
bystander

bystander

84 3.4
A person who watches an event but does not take part
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪˌstændər/
translation icon : testigo
  • The bystander witnessed the accident but did not intervene.
  • an innocent bystander
  • a passive bystander
  • bystander intervention

Like if that happens, there's an innocent bystander that comes in and goes to the girl.

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Examples

  • During the parade, a bystander recorded the performance on their phone.

  • As the fire blazed, many bystanders gathered to see what was happening.

  • Speaking as an innocent bystander, maybe we were tied.

  • But you were an innocent bystander.

    Doctor Jekyll (2023)

  • I am sorry about Frank, but in the big scheme of things, he'll go down as an innocent bystander.

    Lockout (2012)

  • I refuse to be a bystander, a silent witness.

  • And yet as private citizens, we are watching and observing and actually being bystanders and allowing this to go on.

  • A few minutes later, campus police pleaded, "For your own safety, all you bystanders and innocent people, leave."

    Academic text (2000)

  • Civilians are not always mere bystanders and are crucial to any war effort.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Brownstones looked down on him from all sides, like bystanders at an accident site.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

spectator
vsbystander
123 2.6

A person who watches an event or show without taking part

is present at incidents too not only as an audience member
watcher
vsbystander
89 3.9

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

is present without acting and may not be actively monitoring
onlooker
vsbystander
24 3.2

A person who watches something without taking part

is present without joining often at an incident rather than as audience
nonparticipant
vsbystander
1 6.0

A person who does not take part in an activity or event

is present at events but highlights being physically there and not joining
looker-on
vsbystander
4.4

A person who watches an event without taking part

is present at an incident or event but does not take part
sideliner
vsbystander
6.1

A person who is present at an event but does not take part

is present without joining not focused on watching from the side

Antonyms

participant
295 2.4

A person who joins an activity or event

How Involved

spectator
123 2.6
observer
305 2.8
bystander
84 3.4
passerby
  • US
12 3.3

Surface Forms

bystander singular
bystanders plural

Morphology

bystander = stander (transparent) = by + stand + er

Formed by adding 'by-' to 'stander' meaning 'one who stands', so the sense 'person who stands by and does not take part' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Bystander comes from the idea of someone who 'stands by' an event: by means 'near' and stand means 'to be on your feet'. So a bystander is a person who stands near and watches without taking part.