peanut gallery

noun

1. Informal. the rearmost and cheapest section of seats in the balcony or the uppermost balcony of a theater.
2. Slang. a source of insignificant criticism:

   No remarks from the peanut gallery!

Word History and Origins

Origin of peanut gallery¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

Some commentators, abetted by the right-wing peanut gallery, may simply have extrapolated from indications that she was targeting price gouging, but that’s on them, not her.

From Los Angeles Times

Musk and his peanut gallery crowed that this represented a victory, but it’s hardly that.

From Los Angeles Times

Egged on by the conservative peanut gallery, DeSantis has relentlessly pushed himself to the right.

From Los Angeles Times

More peanut gallery antics from Cash followed, but I was loving it.

From Salon

But whether Congress — not to mention the Justice Department — will do something or is simply playing to the concert-going peanut gallery remains to be determined.

From Washington Post

About This Word

More context on peanut gallery

First evidenced in the late 1800s, peanut gallery, as we explain in our definition above, is “the rearmost and cheapest section of seats in the balcony or the uppermost balcony of a theater.”

Apparently, the term takes its name from the people who sat there and ate peanuts. These people, who were often poor or Black, became stereotyped as rowdy—and this history gives the problematic peanut gallery classist and racist undertones.

Beginning in the 1800s, peanut gallery started to spread as a slang term for a “source of insignificant criticism” by association with the behaviors of the stereotypical occupants of the peanut gallery.

If knowing the history of peanut gallery has got you reflecting on your word choices, this slideshow, “These Common Words Have Offensive Histories,” discusses many other words whose place in your vocab you may want to reconsider. 

Keep in mind …

There isn’t an exact synonym for peanut gallery, but heckler, smart-aleck, know-it-all, and hairsplitter get close. Consider some more options in nitpicker and its synonyms over at Thesaurus.com.

Add two-bit or small-time before any of these words for some extra oomph. As for the actual location, cheap seats and nosebleeds are possible alternatives if you need them.