as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
couldn't help gawking at the exotically dressed guests in the hotel lobby
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Recent Examples of gawking
Nunn has a divided audience, as the Baddies show is fueled with drama, with Jerry Springer style fights to keep viewers gawking.
—
Nadja Sayej, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Nadja Sayej, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawking
Verb
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The Irish are 0-1 and staring at an idle weekend with plenty to work on after a 27-24 loss in Miami on the Sunday night of Week 1.—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
2 Sep. 2025
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But after weeks of staring at bare ground, a few green shoots pushed through the dark silt.—
Lila Hempel-Edgers,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Jämsén sees this series as being about gazing at the water, rather than being glued to a large screen or cocktail bar inside.—
Tristan Rutherford,
Robb Report,
8 Sep. 2025
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The self-reflexive qualities of the work go further, and the film can surely be read as a statement about the limits and possibilities of a totally analogue and backwards-gazing practice.—
Sam Bodrojan,
IndieWire,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gawking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawking. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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