RUBBERNECKING Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

rubbernecking 1 of 2

noun

as in eavesdropping

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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

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

Before ChatGPT came on the scene, chipmakers were staring at a post-COVID chip glut.

— Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Taken roughly two decades after her prison ordeal, the image reveals a still formidable figure, a woman unbroken by countless trials, staring straight into the camera’s lens.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of staring

Verb

Frequent elections, impatient constituents and the unrelenting pressure of the news cycle do not provide rewards for gazing into crystal balls or enacting visionary policies whose benefits may only be evident years later.

— John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
Calvo, meanwhile, sits at a desk in his hotel room, gazing into the camera lens placidly while idly sketching on a sheet of paper.

— Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of gazing

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

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Style

“Rubbernecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbernecking. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of rubbernecking

noun

verb

Example Sentences

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