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
-
Beijing — When US and Israeli bombs first began falling on Iran at the end of February, China’s leaders were staring at the very real possibility of another friendly regime being decapitated, much like had happened with Venezuela only weeks before.
-
Yesterday, Barack Obama stood in the nearly same spot, now as a former president, staring up at a monument in his name.
Verb
-
Years after his dad’s reformation, Jonah sits on a bench at the Broncos’ practice facility in Dove Valley, gazing out at the green expanse of his future.
-
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.
Cite this Entry
“Gawking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawking. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
