rubbernecking 1 of 2

noun

as in eavesdropping

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

rubbernecking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of rubberneck
as in gawking
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise thoughtless drivers pausing on the highway to rubberneck at the accident

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 rubbernecking
Verb
As a result, traffic between Morton Grove and Skokie has slowed to a crawl, and on the inbound side there has also been a slowdown due to rubbernecking. — Kris Habermehl, CBS News, 4 May 2026 Instead, Malinin popped his quad axel, the beginning of four minutes that started to feel like rubbernecking a car accident. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026 The whole of football is rubbernecking in their direction. — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbernecking
  1. eavesdropping
  2. gawking
  3. interference
  4. staring
  5. intrusiveness
  6. gazing
  7. questioning
  8. prying
Noun
  • Many state wiretap and eavesdropping laws are written around whether a private communication was intercepted or its contents were acquired — not simply whether a conventional audio recording was created.
    — MacKenzie Sigalos,Annie Palmer, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026
  • OpenAI’s forthcoming device, rumored to be a portable smart speaker, could encounter similar eavesdropping concerns.
    — Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of eavesdropping
Verb
  • 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
Definition of gawking
Noun
  • Repeating this argument for more than four waves reveals that there are many more possibilities for destructive than for constructive interference.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The vote had faced concerns of possible foreign interference after Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail reported Republican operatives had assisted top separatist leaders with their independence bid.
    — Max Saltman, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of interference
Verb
  • The Royals were out of the AL Central race by August and staring at another losing season.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Screens compound the problem because people blink less while staring at them.
    — Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of staring
Noun
  • That seemed to work for a while, but now his intrusiveness is ramping up again.
    — Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
Definition of intrusiveness
Verb
  • Wasson detects a lingering resentment in the poor Sicilian kid gazing up at the idle rich.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Those who fall short have to be satisfied with simply gazing at the destination from the parking lot.
    — Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of gazing
Noun
  • During questioning, Barnes told investigators that Caitlin had confided in him about Carpenter’s death, according to Tippah News.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Kim appeared by video, along with his attorney, following Castillo Madrid’s questioning.
    — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of questioning
Noun
  • The door’s handle had been broken off but the door did not have damage consistent with a break-in, such as prying or force marks, said Det.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026
  • If the convict can help transport the loot from that camp to a safe space far from the government’s prying eyes, the warden will punch his get-outta-jail-free card.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of prying

Browse Nearby Words

rubberneckers
rubbernecking
rubbernecks
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rubbernecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbernecking. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of puissant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

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

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

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All