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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gawking
Shoppers are gawking at their climbing receipts as food costs continue to climb.
—
Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 8 June 2026
This seemingly reflexive action of whipping out their phones while gawking and filming isn’t a novel occurrence.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
Those are important characteristics for advertisers seeking to make dynamic campaigns for an audience that's grown accustomed to viewing short-form videos on Reels or gawking at cat photos on Facebook and Instagram.
—Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
On a typical day, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale reverberates with animal cries and the footfalls of gawking visitors.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Armed soldiers patrolled in droves, spreading hate and fear everywhere, blindfolding children, pointing guns, gawking, spitting, laughing at us like animals in the zoo.
—Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
If gawking at celebrities is your thing.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026
Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2025
Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 8 June 2026
This seemingly reflexive action of whipping out their phones while gawking and filming isn’t a novel occurrence.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
Those are important characteristics for advertisers seeking to make dynamic campaigns for an audience that's grown accustomed to viewing short-form videos on Reels or gawking at cat photos on Facebook and Instagram.
—Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
On a typical day, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale reverberates with animal cries and the footfalls of gawking visitors.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Armed soldiers patrolled in droves, spreading hate and fear everywhere, blindfolding children, pointing guns, gawking, spitting, laughing at us like animals in the zoo.
—Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
If gawking at celebrities is your thing.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026
Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawking
Verb
-
The Knicks, staring basketball death in eye-to-eye, closed the third quarter on a 25-11 run.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
4 June 2026
-
Arredondo refused, staring at the man with tears welling up in his eyes.—
Maria Aguilar Prieto,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
Spieth was one year removed from his third major victory at age 24, and Brown was 10, gazing up at his golfing idol in awe — the wunderkind speaking to a soon-to-be sensation in his own right.—
Gabby Herzig,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
-
As a scorching wind tears across the barren, rocky slopes of Komote Island off the shore of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, Alfred Lenkutuk sits in the meager shelter of his hut, gazing out over the village where he was born and remembering better times.—
Tommy Trenchard,
NPR,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gawking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawking. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
