overhearer
- noun
- /ˌoʊvərˈhɪrər/
- As an overhearer, she learned many secrets she wasn't meant to know.
Examples
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Some remarks may be primarily intended for the overhearer (whom Gerrig terms the "side-participant" to distinguish this communicative position from an unintended or deliberately excluded "overhearer" 106).
Academic text (2002) -
Whenever a conversation takes place before a third party, for example, the speakers will ordinarily tailor their remarks to take the presence of an overhearer into account (104).
Academic text (2002) -
Some remarks may be primarily intended for the overhearer (whom Gerrig terms the "side-participant" to distinguish this communicative position from an unintended or deliberately excluded "overhearer" 106).
Academic text (2002) -
The overhearer found out about the surprise party while waiting in the café.
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He felt like an overhearer when he accidentally listened in on his friends' conversation.
Synonyms
Antonyms
How Intentional
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word overhearer comes from over- ('above' or 'beyond') and hear ('to listen'), so imagine someone standing near a conversation and catching what is said. That's why an overhearer is a person who hears information by chance without being part of the talk.