watchers

noun

plural of watcher
1
as in custodians
a person or group that watches over someone or something the inexperienced babysitter turned out to be a well-meaning but hopelessly incompetent watcher of young children

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in observers
someone who sees or watches something a safari that affords wildlife watchers plenty of opportunities to see Africa's grandest creatures in their natural habitat

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of watchers Vatican watchers say the 71-year-old’s diagnosis could regardless have other unintended effects, not all of them negative. — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026 That said, some market watchers see Skydance as an attractive investment after Wednesday’s stock drop. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026 Williams and her husband were not bird watchers before the barn owl family moved in to the water tower. — Joseph B. Frederick, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2026 Industry watchers are awaiting any official guidelines for enforcement of its new directive, which may come from the Office of Director of National Intelligence (headed by task force chair Jay Clayton) and the Federal Trade Commission. — Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2026 Game-watchers have access to Hawk-Eye camera angles from each end of the ice, along with a full-rink view from high above and the ability to isolate on a single player. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026 That's because many market-watchers believe that political outcomes, like which party controls Congress or wins the presidency, can have meaningful impacts on the stock market. — Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026 At the time of the January announcement, market watchers were already predicting how Anta could possibly help steer Puma out of its slump. — Stephen Garner, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026 After the decree’s expiration in 2018, Republicans ramped up their recruitment of poll watchers for the 2020 presidential election. — Mark Krasovic, The Conversation, 7 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watchers
  1. custodians
  2. observers
  3. guardians
  4. viewers
  5. guards
  6. spectators
  7. keepers
  8. wardens
Noun
  • This includes medical staff at state prisons, technology specialists at California Highway Patrol and custodians at state hospitals.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Undeath have signed with those custodians of heavy music over at Relapse and debuted a new song for the label.
    — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of custodians
Noun
  • Coleman found instructive a 1938 ruling in favor of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who challenged a radio station that placed observers on a rooftop next to Forbes Field and paid them to provide play-by-play for an unauthorized radio broadcast.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Such actions are scaring people away from coming to court, whether as witnesses, defendants or observers, Bonta said, and amount to a blatant abuse of power.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of observers
Noun
  • Four students were involved in a physical fight Thursday morning, sending one student to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries, according to a message sent to parents and guardians.
    — Renee Anderson, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • When one of her for-hire guardians speaks of her past as a musician, playing the pianoforte (piano) for enraptured listeners, Adelaide is entranced.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of guardians
Noun
  • But giving him a national platform without confronting his record does a disservice to viewers and to the people of Illinois.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Asking viewers to contemplate childhood pain while monitoring digestion requires two kinds of attention that Duffield only intermittently brings together.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of viewers
Noun
  • The fan guards inside the walk-in cooler had accumulated dust.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The original 1971 experiment was conducted by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, who arbitrarily split volunteers into two groups—inmates and guards—and observed how power corrupted them.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of guards
Noun
  • According to Long, the gathering grew from about 40 cars and a few hundred spectators in 2014 to 300 display cars and thousands of visitors at Luftgekühlt 12 this year.
    — Chris Hardesty, AJC.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The rowing competition on the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge attracts about 12,000 athletes and 370,000 spectators from around the world for the three-day event.
    — Anna Meiler, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of spectators
Noun
  • Also, my Pasifika and Indigenous community of writers and storytellers, keepers of mo’olelo, including my ‘ohana and kupuna.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Flores was 14-of-25 passing for 162 yards and ran for another 117 on 31 keepers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of keepers
Noun
  • According to the post, Kentucky State Police Aviation saw smoke in the area, and wardens and search and rescue personnel were able to access the location, near the headwaters of Cave Run Lake, using a boat.
    — Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Game wardens did arrest nine people across Georgia for boating under the influence, the majority of whom were at Lake Lanier.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of wardens

Browse Nearby Words

watcher
watchers
watches
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Watchers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watchers. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
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 jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

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

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
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All