as in stares
a fixed intent look
I told him to stop staring, that his rather stupid gape was annoying
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in gazes
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of gapes
Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
Verb
Straitjacketed inside the inescapable present, Pearl gapes up to discover that her husband, Walker, has found her; Walker was always going to find her.
—Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gapes
Noun
-
Brith stares, dazed, nonplussed.—
Maggie O’Farrell,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
-
Surrounded by, among others, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several family members, Trump stares bluntly as Swanson and Landwehr go at it.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
26 May 2026
Verb
-
One character gazes out and tries to make a decision.—
Sophie Monks Kaufman,
IndieWire,
20 May 2026
-
And Sylvie, who still gazes with utmost tenderness at a black-and-white photograph, taken during her time abroad, of a nameless wailing Russian child, has permanently abandoned her own daughter by refusing to visit her.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Beef cheeks and tongues, Frenched racks of lamb, glistening hams, poulet de Bresse, and rabbits still with their heads, round eyes blinkless under long lashes frozen in the ice.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
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Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Los Angeles voters are heading to the polls Tuesday to elect their next mayor, a race that has put all eyes on the nation’s second-largest city.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gapes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gapes. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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