eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness ˈī-ˈwit-nəs 

: one who sees an occurrence or an object

especially : one who gives a report on what he or she has seen

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

These were composed somewhere far from Jerusalem, in a language that Jesus and his disciples would not have known, by writers who could not have been eyewitnesses. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025

The Rag’s loyal readership also shared their eyewitness accounts of the spectacle in the comments section. —Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 21 Mar. 2025

McQuarrie said the young woman didn’t tell anyone about the apparent lifeguard interaction until weeks after the drowning, and the attorney said her claim was inconsistent with city lifeguard training and other eyewitness accounts. —City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025

There was a potential eyewitness of sorts -- the elaborate security camera system in the mansion -- something only Stragaj, Becky and family members knew about. —Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for eyewitness

• fitness
• witness
• unfitness

Kids Definition

eyewitness

noun

eye·​wit·​ness -ˈwit-nəs 

: 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