voyeur

voyeurs

Make sure you close the curtains at night, just in case there’s a voyeur in the neighborhood. A voyeur is someone who likes to watch people without them knowing.

The word voyeur came into English in the twentieth century from the French word voir, meaning “see.” A voyeur is someone who peeps, or spies on other people, watching them do things they probably don't want to be seen, or someone who likes to hear stories about strangers' private lives. When you spell voyeur, make sure you remember the ending is spelled “eur,” a legacy of the word’s French heritage.