eyewitness

eyewitness — noun

1. a person who is present when something important or illegal happens and sees it

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who is present when something important or illegal happens and sees it with their own eyes, so they can later give a report about it

Example

Bilal was the only eyewitness to the car accident on the highway.

only + eyewitness + to [event]

The police asked the eyewitness to describe what she had seen that night.

ask + eyewitness + to-infinitive

Common collocations
  • eyewitness account
  • eyewitness report
  • eyewitness testimony
  • only eyewitness
  • eyewitness to
Synonyms
  • witness

    broader term — a witness may give evidence in court without having seen the event firsthand

  • bystander

    focuses on being present nearby, but does not emphasise that the person paid close attention

  • observer

    more neutral and often used in formal or scientific contexts; can imply deliberate watching rather than accidental presence

Grammar Patterns

eyewitness + to + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently used in legal and news reporting contexts. Unlike the broader term 'witness', which can refer to anyone who gives evidence in court, 'eyewitness' specifically requires that the person saw the event firsthand. The noun is almost always followed by 'to' when specifying the event (e.g., 'eyewitness to the robbery').

Common Mistakes

The police found an eye witness to the accident.
The police found an eyewitness to the accident.
'eyewitness' is written as one word, not two.
She gave eyewitness to the police.
She gave an eyewitness account to the police.
'eyewitness' is a person, not a statement or report.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While all these words describe someone who is present at an event, they differ in how actively the person watches and what they can report. An 'eyewitness' has personally seen what happened and can give a detailed account, often in a legal setting. A 'witness' is broader — it includes anyone who can provide information, even if they only heard the event or have documents. A 'bystander' is nearby but may not have been watching closely; they were simply present. An 'onlooker' watches, but usually out of curiosity rather than as part of an investigation. An 'observer' watches deliberately and systematically, often in a scientific or formal context. For example: 'Three eyewitnesses told the police exactly what they saw,' whereas 'A bystander who was looking at their phone did not notice anything.'

witness ↗bystanderonlookerobserver ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • according to eyewitnesses

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed by compounding 'eye' (the organ of sight, from Old English 'ēage') and 'witness' (someone who gives evidence, from Old English 'witnes', meaning knowledge or testimony). The compound has been used in English since the mid-1500s to emphasise that the person saw the event firsthand rather than hearing about it second-hand.