gawping

verb

present participle of gawp, chiefly British
as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise tourists in London gawping at royalty

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 gawping In response, the women maneuvered their craft behind some brush, hiding from the soldiers gawping at them from the bank. — Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawping
  1. staring
  2. gawking
  3. gazing
Verb
  • Very few things in movies and television shows delight me as much as a mysterious character revealing his or her fascinating backstory through an extended monologue that is delivered while staring off into the unspecified middle distance.
    — Brian Grubb, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Remember, staring directly at the sun during the partial phases of an eclipse can cause permanent vision loss.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of staring
Verb
  • 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
Definition of gawking
Verb
  • The first image shows the mother-of-two enjoying a moment of calm outside, wearing a pair of pale jeans and a blue striped shirt, gazing thoughtfully into the distance.
    — Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
  • There, Kikuko lies on a luxurious bed and dies while gazing out to sea.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of gazing

Browse Nearby Words

gawpers
gawping
gawps
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Cite this Entry

“Gawping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawping. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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