eyewitness account
Observer's direct report
An eyewitness account is a description of events from someone who was present when they occurred.
The term emphasizes direct observation rather than secondhand information: Police are seeking eyewitness accounts of the shooting.
Eyewitness accounts carry weight in courtrooms and journalism, though research shows memory can be unreliable even when witnesses feel certain.
- false memoryBelieved but fictional recall
- affidavitSworn written statement
- firsthandWithout intermediary
- depositionFormal testimony under oath
- corroborationEvidence confirming another account
crime scene · interview · suggestibility · testimony · court testimony · primary source · bystander · flashbulb · oral history · sworn statement · memory recall · evidence · report · confession · chronicle · memoir · sensory input · investigative journalism
- newsnews, headlines, breaking news, headline, news alert
- evidenceevidence, evidence bag, circumstantial evidence, proof, admissible
- historical recordsdiary, census record, annual reviews, letter, government records
- historieschronicle, annals, historical record, historical narrative, history book
- live broadcastlive broadcast, live stream, livestream, live feed, live video
- personal writingdiary, journal, autobiographical essay, memoir, memoirs
eyewitness accounthearsay
Unverified secondhand information
secondhand account · rumor · gossip · word of mouth · received wisdom
eyewitness accountfabrication
Deliberately untrue statement
fiction · hearsay evidence · conjecture · speculation · false testimony
eyewitness accountofficial report
Authorized documented account
documentary evidence · forensic evidence · statistical analysis · circumstantial evidence · expert analysis