GAWKING Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

gawking

verb

present participle of gawk

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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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 The film opens with Tenzing as a boy, gawking at Mount Everest, which looms across the valley like Godzilla. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026 On most days the Jewel House in the Tower of London is packed with tourists gawking at the fabled British Crown Jewels. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026 Instead, the skin-frying Friday saw common flow of people going through, gawking at the large screens and a group of sailors allowing some passing by to do pull-ups from a bar. — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 3 July 2026 The walk to the stadium is a mile or so along the Alaskan Way, where restaurants like the Crab Pot are opening up, but everyone is gawking at the street spectacle. — Simon Hughes, New York Times, 24 June 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawking

Verb

Before ChatGPT came on the scene, chipmakers were staring at a post-COVID chip glut.

— Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Taken roughly two decades after her prison ordeal, the image reveals a still formidable figure, a woman unbroken by countless trials, staring straight into the camera’s lens.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of staring

Verb

Frequent elections, impatient constituents and the unrelenting pressure of the news cycle do not provide rewards for gazing into crystal balls or enacting visionary policies whose benefits may only be evident years later.

— John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
Calvo, meanwhile, sits at a desk in his hotel room, gazing into the camera lens placidly while idly sketching on a sheet of paper.

— Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of gazing

Browse Nearby Words

gawkiness

gawking

gawkish

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“Gawking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawking. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of gawking

verb

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