peeping tom

peeping tom

English

Alternative forms

• peeping Tom, Peeping Tom

Etymology

From Peeping Tom, a tailor in the legend of Lady Godiva who watched Godiva riding naked.

Noun

peeping tom (plural peeping toms)

1. A person who watches another without the other's permission and usually without the other's knowledge, especially for the purpose of deriving sexual pleasure from the sight of the other.
   • 1957, "A Question of Justice," Time, 3 Jun.,

     Reynolds contended that the Chinese was a peeping tom whom he caught spying on his wife one night last March while she was toweling herself after a shower.

   • 2000, Jeffrey Geri, Oh, Henry, →ISBN, page 148:

     The girls complained about peeping Toms. There was a skylight window in the communal ladies' shower, and one night Jennie and a friend looked up while showering, to see two young male faces staring at them from above.

   • 2005, a UM student quoted in College Prowler: University Of Michigan: off the record →ISBN, page 20:

     "They claim that the security is good at UM, but we had five break-ins into student dorms and numerous reports of peeping Toms in the women's dorm bathrooms."

Synonyms

• peeper
• voyeur

Translations

person who secretly watches someone to gain sexual pleasure

Arabic: مُتَلَصِّص‎ m (mutalaṣṣiṣ) Chinese: Mandarin: 偷窺者／偷窥者 (tōukuīzhě), 偷窺狂／偷窥狂 (zh) (tōukuīkuáng) Czech: šmírák m, voyeur m Danish: vindueskigger c Finnish: tirkistelijä (fi), voyeuristi (fi) French: voyeur (fr) m, voyeuse (fr) f German: Voyeur (de) m, Spanner (de) m Greek: ηδονοβλεψίας (el) m or f (idonovlepsías), οφθαλμοπόρνος (el) m or f (ofthalmopórnos), ματάκιας (el) m (matákias), μπανιστηρτζής (el) m (banistirtzís) Icelandic: gluggagægir m Italian: guardone (it) m Japanese: 出歯亀 (ja) (でばかめ, debakame, でばがめ, debagame), 覗き魔 (のぞきま, nozokima) Korean: please add this translation if you can Norman: dgîngneux m Norwegian: Bokmål: vinduskikker Nynorsk: vinduskikkar Persian: هیز‎ (fa) (hiz) Plautdietsch: Glotzkopp m Portuguese: voyeur, espreitador (pt) Russian: вуайери́ст (ru) m (vuajeríst), вуайери́стка f (vuajerístka), вуайёр (ru) m (vuajjór), согляда́тай (ru) m (sogljadátaj), подгля́дывающий (ru) m (podgljádyvajuščij) Spanish: voyeur m, mirón (es) m Swedish: voyeur (sv) c, smygtittare c, fönstertittare c, fluktare (sv) c Turkish: röntgenci (tr) Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can Welsh: Twm Pip m

See also

• gatecrasher, interloper, persona non grata, encroacher, backseat driver, kibitzer, meddler, nosy parker, marplot, buttinsky, busybody, voyeurism