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bystander

UK/ˈbaɪˌstænd.ə(ɹ)/US/ˈbaɪˌstænd.ə(ɹ)/
nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,734 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: bystanders

A bystander is somebody present at an event but taking no part in it. Watching, and not involved.

News reports use it constantly, and an innocent bystander injured in an incident is a fixed phrase. Psychology has the bystander effect, the well-documented finding that the more people witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help, since everybody assumes somebody else will. Bystander intervention training exists precisely to counter that. The word is neutral, but the phrase standing by carries a hint of failing to act.

Definitions of bystander

  1. 1nounbystanderA person present at an event without taking part.B2+

    “Several bystanders had filmed the whole thing.”

Where it comes from

From by- + stander. Compare passerby.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 10 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

bystander in the wild

  • The bystander then takes on personal responsibility and takes action to intervene, with the goal of preventing the situation from escalating.

    Bystander intervention

  • The bystander who is intervening has several options, including distracting either of the people, getting help from others, checking in later, or directly intervening.

    Bystander intervention

  • Assumption of responsibility tends to decrease when the potential helping group is larger, resulting in little aiding behavior demonstrated by the bystander(s).

    Diffusion of responsibility

  • The paper was first called Iowa State Bystander; the term "bystander" given by its editor, Charles Ruff, after a syndicated column "The Bystander's Notes" written by Albion W.

    Iowa Bystander

  • Bystander Revolution is an anti-bullying organization founded in 2014 that provides advice on bystander intervention.

    Bystander Revolution

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.