character witness

noun

: a person who gives evidence in a legal action concerning the reputation, conduct, and moral nature of a party

Examples of character witness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Christie, a lawyer, assembled a team to help King and served as a character witness in his case. —

Jade Jackson, The Indianapolis Star, 17 June 2024 After the initial indictment was unsealed in September, Menendez was abandoned by Democratic allies, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who appeared as a character witness in Menendez's first federal bribery trial in 2017, which ended in a mistrial. —

Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 3 June 2024 That was remarkable because Booker testified as a character witness during Menendez’s first trial. —

Terence McGinley, New York Times, 14 May 2024 The finale alone gave us a wealth of high jinks independent of the trial featuring the anti-Larry character witnesses. —

Esther Zuckerman, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for character witness

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'character witness.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1832, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of character witness was circa 1832

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Character witness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/character%20witness. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.

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