observer
/əbˈzəːvə
/noun
1A person who watches or notices something: to a casual observer, he was at peace...
- For instance, on the island site of the ‘Three Pools Mirroring the Moon’ even a casual observer may notice something slightly odd about some of the trees.
- A casual observer might have noticed they were all drinking pints of Caledonian 80 Shilling, but they were not only there to enjoy the local ale.
- These are the kind of clues that might escape the notice of the casual observer.
Synonyms
spectator, onlooker, watcher, looker-on, fly on the wall, viewer, witness, eyewitness, bystander, sightseer;
commentator, reporter, blogger, monitor
informal rubberneck
literary beholder
1.1A person who follows events closely and comments publicly on them: some observers expect interest rates to rise...
- But analysts and observers who followed the six-week trial of the men say the proceedings failed to shed light on the claimed plot and that little hard evidence was introduced in court.
- We expected observers to use the public information available to them and thus prefer the ‘rich’ patch.
- No one has represented the divided self better-the analyst, the observer, the commentator who serves as witness of the one who has come through.
1.2A person posted in an official capacity to an area to monitor political or military events: elections scrutinized by international observers...
- Musa is Amnesty International's official observer of the Military Commission trials at the bay.
- Not only that, the IRA has already put some of its weapons beyond use as overseen by official international observers.
- Also, it is reported today that for the first time the government has asked international observers to monitor the last week of the election campaign.
1.3A person who attends a conference, inquiry, etc., to note the proceedings without participating in them: he had been invited to attend the meeting as an observer...
- Mr and Mrs Taylor have also discovered that they are too late to object to the plan and can now only attend the inquiry as observers.
- In addition to the mediators, 19 figures representing numerous groups who attended the meeting as observers, also witnessed the signing of the peace deal.
- His present partner attends but is an observer not a participant.
1.4A person trained to spot and identify enemy aircraft or to reconnoitre enemy positions from the air: the Royal Observer Corps...
- Future battles will have unmanned systems as forward sensor / observers detecting and identifying high-value targets and calling for fires.
- Capt Donald regularly flew all types of missions in fixed wing aircraft and acted as an observer in rotary wing aircraft.
- Joe also spent time at an aerial machine-gunnery school where observers and gunners were trained.
