eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs How to pronounce eyewitness (audio)
Synonyms of eyewitnessnext
: one who sees an occurrence or an object
especially : one who gives a report of what has happened

Examples of eyewitness in a Sentence

The police are hoping to locate an eyewitness to the shooting. He was able to give an eyewitness account of the shooting.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The first eyewitness reports from the crash are beginning to trickle in on Spanish media. — José Bautista Carlos Barragán José Bautista James McManagan, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026 There were no eyewitnesses to Htoo’s killing, and the case went unsolved for several years. — Kansas City Star, 28 Oct. 2026 Peacock has also released a first look, featuring footage from inside the courtroom and a new eyewitness account. — Mya Copeland, Variety, 27 Oct. 2026 However, eyewitnesses say there was also a fourth person, the driver, according to officials. — ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for eyewitness

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of eyewitness was in 1539

Rhymes for eyewitness

See All Rhymes for eyewitness

Browse Nearby Words

eyewinker
eyewitness
eyewort
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Eyewitness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eyewitness. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

eyewitness

noun
eye·​wit·​ness -ˈwit-nəs How to pronounce eyewitness (audio)
: a person who sees an occurrence and is able to give a report of it

Legal Definition

eyewitness

noun
eye·​wit·​ness
: one who sees an occurrence or object or sometimes experiences it through other senses (as hearing) and usually reports or testifies about it

More from Merriam-Webster on eyewitness

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for eyewitness

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wraith

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All