gazed; gazing; gazes
: to fix the eyes in a steady intent look often with eagerness or studious attention
gazed out the window at the snow
gazer
noun
plural gazers
plural gazes
1
: a fixed intent look
a steady gaze
He fixed his gaze out the window.
She lowered/dropped/raised her gaze.
I met his gaze. [=I looked back at him.]
2
: the collective preferences and expectations of a usually privileged social group especially when imposed as a standard or norm on other groups
In 1973, British feminist film writer Laura Mulvey wrote a seminal essay called "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", which explored how mainstream films appealed to a male gaze—a term she coined—because the industry was dominated by men who, inevitably, constructed representations of women from a masculine point of view.—
Kerrie O'Brien
Kerrie O'BrienSo few slots are available for nonwhite writers that those who break through are sometimes themselves charged with … exaggerating elements of their culture for a white gaze; living up to the image that white writers have created for them, the easier to be packaged and sold.—Ligaya Mishan
Ligaya MishanIt looks like a gentle scene of a seaside vacation. But this painting by Berthe Morisot, perhaps the most underrated Impressionist, is a layered vision of a dawning modern age and a rare glimpse at the 19th-century female gaze.—Natasha Frost
Natasha FrostExamples of gaze in a Sentence
Verb
He gazed out the window at the snow.
She gazed intently into his eyes.
Noun
She looked at him with a calm, steady gaze.
suddenly aware of her admiring gaze, he became self-conscious and uncomfortable
Recent Examples on the Web
Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Sifting through data from sun-gazing spacecraft, Battams’s project has found more than 5,000 so far.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026
Asia is well represented in this year’s competition, with four films from Japanese and Korean directors vying for the Palme d’Or under the gaze of jury president Park Chan-wook.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gaze
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Verb
Days are spent barefoot, raising turnips, sitting out by the lake, gazing at the cattle.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Sifting through data from sun-gazing spacecraft, Battams’s project has found more than 5,000 so far.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2026
Noun
Another day, as Mom loads the children into the car, Jeremy tosses a basketball against the house, again and again, his passive aggression registering through the ball’s unyielding thuds and his own frozen gaze.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026
Asia is well represented in this year’s competition, with four films from Japanese and Korean directors vying for the Palme d’Or under the gaze of jury president Park Chan-wook.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gaze
Cite this Entry
“Gaze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaze. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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