A beholder is an observer: someone who gains awareness of things through the senses, especially sight. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the person who is observing gets to decide what is beautiful. ... To be a beholder, you have to pay attention.

What does the truth is in the eye of the beholder mean?

phrase [v-link PHR] If you say that something such as beauty or art is in the eye of the beholder, you mean that it is a matter of personal opinion.

Where did the phrase eye of the beholder come from?

Origin of Eye of the Beholder

While this expression has existed in various forms for hundreds of years, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford coined the formation that we commonly see today in her 1878 novel Molly Bawn: It's true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.