as in eavesdropping
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Dissimilar Words
as in gawking
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
thoughtless drivers pausing on the highway to rubberneck at the accident
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Recent Examples of rubbernecking
Nick Miller, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
Other tasty-looking ties include Red Bull Salzburg against Porto and, for fans of rubbernecking, Russell Martin’s latest chance to win over Rangers fans comes at home to Genk.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbernecking
Noun
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Only a few other animals, like parrots and apes, have demonstrated a knack for this kind of eavesdropping.—
Adithi Ramakrishnan,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
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The surface can be configured to create intentional radio dead zones, a feature that helps mitigate signal interference and reduces the risk of electronic eavesdropping.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
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But the cringe-comedy antics of the original NBC series landed far better in Season 3 than in Season 1, once audiences began to truly love the characters instead of just gawking at them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And how does a case about election interference end with taxpayers potentially paying the defense lawyers?—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
14 Jan. 2026
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Democrats have run several bills over the past few years to protect trans youth, in particular, a move that conservatives have decried as government interference with families.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Below-average play is often staring you right in the face while catastrophe lurks around the corner.—
Matt Schneidman,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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The face in question, below, involves Sherman staring with her mouth agape.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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If star-gazing and vintage glamping sound dreamy, head to Camp Kettlewood.—
Sarah Miller,
Midwest Living,
13 Jan. 2026
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By day, visitors can hike, cycle, and view ancient petroglyphs left behind by the area's Indigenous Northern Paiute people, before spending the night gazing up at the twinkling canopy.—
Elizabeth Rhodes,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Police have detained several people for questioning, but do not have a suspect in custody.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Jan. 2026
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After all, his only experience with real-life interrogators was from the receiving end of their questioning.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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That was what led the princess to send her staff away and sneak the BBC crew in for the interview, isolating herself in the face of Bashir’s prying questions.—
Theresa Braine,
Mercury News,
26 Nov. 2025
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The New Jersey native also teased some new music on the way after some prying from Hudson.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rubbernecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbernecking. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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