GAWPING Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

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

Verb

Finkelstein is also part of another program that will attempt to re-create Hubble and JWST’s famous deep-field images, which revealed millions of previously unseen galaxies by staring at seemingly empty patches of sky.

— Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026
When producer Robert Stigwood initially approached him about staring in the Sgt.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of staring

Verb

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

Definition of gawking

Verb

Their mornings begin with coffee and toast on the deck, gazing over the village rooftops to the ocean.

— Barbara Bry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Deployed in 2004, the Swift Observatory spent over two decades gazing into some of the universe’s most powerful explosions.

— Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of gazing

Browse Nearby Words

gawpers

gawping

gawps

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Gawping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawping. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of gawping

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

conscientious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

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

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

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Popular in Wordplay

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More 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

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes