as in stared
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order
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Recent Examples of gaped
Inside the old asylum, plaster peeled from mottled walls and holes gaped in the ceiling.
—
Jen Rose Smith, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Some stuffing gaped out of the rips on the back.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
Jen Rose Smith, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Some stuffing gaped out of the rips on the back.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gaped
Verb
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The horses in the fear group touched the novel object less often and stared at it from a distance more than their peers did.—
Marta Hill,
Scientific American,
14 Jan. 2026
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Freeman stared at the video screen with his mouth open.—
Colleen Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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They’re presented as endearing surprises of nature and life, celebrated rather than gawked at.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Dec. 2025
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Drilling for progress As the rest of us gawked at Maye’s pinpoint accuracy on his 55-yard completion to Rhamondre Stevenson in the third quarter of last Sunday’s win — the longest of his career — Maye’s position coach smiled for a different reason.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The pair—who’ve been married since 2018—held hands and gazed at each other, and the Love Again star was photographed adjusting her husband’s black bow tie and putting her hand on his chest.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
11 Jan. 2026
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Countless people around the world have unknowingly gazed into a fourth-floor room of the former Jefferson Hotel in Phoenix.—
Douglas C. Towne,
AZCentral.com,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gaped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gaped. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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