spectator

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: spec=ta=tor

CIDE DICTIONARY

spectator, n. [L. spectator: cf. F. spectateur. See Spectacle.].

 One who on; one who sees or beholds; a beholder; one who is personally present at, and sees, any exhibition; as, the spectators at a show.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Looker-on; beholder; observer; witness.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

spectator, n. a person who looks on at a show, game, incident, etc.

Idiom

spectator sport a sport attracting spectators rather than participants.

Derivative

spectatorial adj.

Etymology

F spectateur or L spectator f. spectare: see SPECTACLE

THESAURUS

spectator

accepter, acquirer, addressee, aficionado, attender, attestant, attestator, attester, audience, auditor, auditory, beholder, buff, bystander, claqueur, cojuror, compurgator, congregation, consignee, deadhead, deponent, earwitness, eyewitness, fan, frequenter, gallery, gazer, getter, groundling, habitue, haunter, hearer, hired applauder, holder, house, informant, informer, listener, looker, looker-on, moviegoer, newer, observer, obtainer, onlooker, orchestra, pass holder, passerby, patron, payee, perceiver, pit, playgoer, procurer, receiver, recipient, seer, standee, swearer, taker, testifier, theater, theatergoer, trustee, viewer, visitor, voucher, watcher, witness

ROGET THESAURUS

spectator

Spectator

N spectator, beholder, observer, looker-on, onlooker, witness, eyewitness, bystander, passer by, sightseer, rubberneck, rubbernecker, spy, sentinel.