voyeur

See also: Voyeur

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *widēō

Latin videō

Old French veoir

Middle French veoir

French voir

French -eur

French voyeurbor.

English voyeur

Borrowed from French voyeur, from voir (“to see”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vɔɪˈjɜː/, /vwɑːˈjɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /vɔɪˈjɜɹ/, /vwɑˈjɜr/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: vo‧yeur

Noun

voyeur (plural voyeurs)

1. A person who derives sexual pleasure from observing other people engaging in some intimate or sexual activity; one who engages in voyeurism.

   Synonyms: peeping tom, (dated) inspectionist, (US, gay slang) eyeball queen

2. An obsessive observer of sensational or sordid subjects.

Related terms

• voyeurism
• voyeuse (“female voyeur”)

Translations

a person who derives sexual pleasure from secretly observing other people

• Arabic: مُتَلَصِّص m (mutalaṣṣiṣ)
• Bulgarian: воайор m (voajor)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偷窺者 / 偷窥者 (tōukuīzhě), 偷窺狂 / 偷窥狂 (zh) (tōukuīkuáng)

• Czech: šmírák m
• Finnish: tirkistelijä (fi), voyeuristi (fi)
• French: voyeur (fr) m
• German: Voyeur (de) m, Spanner (de) m, Voyeurin (de) f
• Greek: ηδονοβλεψίας (el) m (idonovlepsías)
• Hindi: दृश्यरतिक (dŕśyartik)
• Italian: guardone (it) m, voyeur m or f
• Japanese: 出歯亀 (ja) (でばかめ, debakame, でばがめ, debagame), 覗き魔 (のぞきま, nozokima)
• Macedonian: воаје́р m (voajér), па́зач m (pázač)
• Plautdietsch: Glotzkopp m
• Polish: podglądacz (pl) m
• Portuguese: voyeur m or f
• Russian: вуайери́ст (ru) m (vuajjeríst), вуайёр (ru) m (vuajjór), согляда́тай (ru) m (sogljadátaj), подгля́дывающий (ru) m (podgljádyvajuščij)
• Spanish: voyerista (es) m or f, mirón (es) m, voyeur m or f
• Swedish: voyeur (sv) c, tittare (sv) c
• Tagalog: mamboboso (tl)
• Turkish: röntgenci (tr)

an obsessive observer of sensational or sordid subjects

• Bulgarian: воайор m (voajor)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 八卦愛好者 / 八卦爱好者 (bāguà àihàozhě)

• Finnish: tirkistelijä (fi)
• Indonesian: voyeur
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• exhibitionist
• creepshot
• scopophile

Czech

Noun

voyeur m anim

1. voyeur

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Related terms

• See vize

Further reading

• “voyeur”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “voyeur”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

voyeur m (plural voyeurs, diminutive voyeurtje n)

1. voyeur

French

Etymology

From voir (“to see”) +‎ -eur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vwa.jœʁ/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

voyeur m (plural voyeurs, feminine voyeuse)

1. observer; watcher
2. voyeur, peeping tom

Derived terms

• voyeurisme

Further reading

• “voyeur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism, unadapted borrowing from Dutch voyeur, from French voyeur.

Noun

voyeur (plural voyeur-voyeur)

1. (psychology) voyeur

Further reading

• “voyeur”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *widēō

Latin videō

Old French veoir

Middle French veoir

French voir

French -eur

French voyeurubor.

Portuguese voyeur

Unadapted borrowing from French voyeur.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vojˈɛʁ/ [voɪ̯ˈɛh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vojˈɛʁ/ [voɪ̯ˈɛh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /vojˈɛɾ/ [voɪ̯ˈɛɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /vojˈɛʁ/ [voɪ̯ˈɛχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /vojˈɛɻ/ [voɪ̯ˈɛɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vwajˈeɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vwajˈeɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bwajˈeɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /vwajˈe.ɾi/

• Rhymes: -ɛɾ, -eɾ

Noun

voyeur m or f by sense (plural voyeurs)

1. voyeur (person who derives sexual pleasure from secretly observing others having sex)
   • 2014, Diney, Ramon Torres, Diógines Tiee, “Voyeur” (0:16 from the start), in Mistério, performed by Belo, São Paulo: Sony Music:

     Prepare a mesa do café / Eu sinto teu cheiro de mulher / Eu tô chegando / Um brigadeiro de colher / Hoje eu fico de voyeur / Te admirando

     /vojˈɛʁ/

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Related terms

• voyeurismo

References

• “voyeur”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “voyeur”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026

Further reading

• “voyeur”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *widēō

Latin videō

Old French veoir

Middle French veoir

French voir

French -eur

French voyeurubor.

Spanish voyeur

Unadapted borrowing from French voyeur.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bwaˈjeɾ/ [bwaˈjeɾ], /boˈʝeuɾ/ [boˈʝeu̯ɾ]

• IPA^(key): /bwaˈjeɾ/ [bwaˈjeɾ], /boˈʝeuɾ/ [boˈʝeu̯ɾ] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay, northern Mexico, Yucatán and Central America (except Panama))
• IPA^(key): /bwaˈjeɾ/ [bwaˈjeɾ], /boˈʃeuɾ/ [boˈʃeu̯ɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /bwaˈjeɾ/ [bwaˈjeɾ], /boˈʒeuɾ/ [boˈʒeu̯ɾ] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /bwaˈjeɾ/ [bwaˈjeɾ], /boˈeuɾ/ [boˈeu̯ɾ] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Rhymes: -eɾ, -euɾ
• Syllabification: vo‧yeur

Noun

voyeur m (plural voyeurs or voyeur)

1. voyeur

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “voyeur”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Noun

voyeur c

1. a voyeur (who derives sexual pleasure from watching other people's erotic activity)

Declension

Declension of voyeur

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	voyeur	voyeurs
	definite	voyeuren	voyeurens
plural	indefinite	voyeurer	voyeurers
	definite	voyeurerna	voyeurernas

Related terms

• voyeurism

See also

• flukta
• fluktare
• fönstertittare

References

• “voyeur”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “voyeur”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “voyeur”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)