Meanings
- not comparableStanding nearby; having the role of bystander.
- uncountableThe state of being a bystander.
Bystanding is not confined to one-off incidents: whole populations stand by while others suffer or are persecuted.
2015, Stephen Fineman, The Blame Business: The Uses and Misuses of Accountability, London: Reaktion Books, →ISBN, page 262 more examples
The woes of the world call forth the loudest outcries from the bystanders. Bystanding is not the closest possible adjustment to the universe.
1932, Francis John McConnell, Aids to Christian Belief, New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Oh.; Chicago, Ill.: The Abingdon Press, page 108Adults love to talk about the importance of bystanders in stopping social cruelty. But bystanding is really complicated, and when we encourage our children to do it we rarely think about whether we're willing and able to do it ourselves.
2013, Rosalind Wiseman, Masterminds & Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 201
Origin
Cite this entry
bystanding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bystanding
“bystanding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bystanding. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bystanding,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bystanding.
Source: bystanding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.