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

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 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
  • Before a first-down play from the Cleveland 20-yard line, Rodgers could be seen staring at the Pittsburgh sideline with his arms spread out, apparently waiting to receive the play from McCarthy.
    — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • More of the same people staring at the same problem in the same room.
    — Duncan Wardle, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of staring
Verb
  • Such an approach runs the risk of gawking at an unfamiliar people, their hegemonies and their ways of life, even with the best intentions.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 5 Sep. 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
Definition of gawking
Verb
  • Make sure to get a room with a balcony for private hipster-gazing with a cocktail.
    — Riza Cruz, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Terraces in various configurations have capacious daybeds and sometimes plunge pools for gazing at the expansive sea views.
    — Rachel Howard, Travel + Leisure, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of gazing

Browse Nearby Words

gawpers
gawping
gawps
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gawping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawping. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of regimen

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All