peanut gallery

peanut gallery definitions

noun
  • Any source of heckling, unwelcome commentary or criticism, especially from a know-it-all or of an inexpert nature. May also now refer to general audience response: "Let's hear it from the peanut gallery." 

  • The upper balcony to which black patrons were restricted in racially segregated venues such as theatres. 

  • In the nineteenth century, the cheap seats at the back of a theatre or in the upper balcony.