stared

verb

past tense of stare
as in gazed
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise her friends stared in disbelief upon seeing her walking arm in arm with her ex-husband

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 stared In 1999, the then-69-year-old great-grandmother helped obtain extra government benefits for workers who lost their jobs in a citrus freeze and stared across the contract bargaining table at lawyers for the giant Gallo wine company. — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026 Yes, that same Mason from the premiere who Ge-Z stared Daisy into giving up a leather trench coat. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026 One man, summing up the shock, anger and frustration for everyone, stared straight ahead and at one in particular, gathering up whatever air was left in his lungs and yelled one more f-bomb for good measure. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026 After feeling someone violently strike him, the victim turned to face Lyons, who allegedly stared at him while holding a box cutter blade. — Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026 At eleven-thirty, Molina sat down at his kitchen table and, like López’s father, stared outside while listening. — Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 In his Instagram Story, Barker, wearing a blue surgical hat, hospital gown and a blood pressure monitor, stared at the camera in a selfie in which daughter Alabama Barker was seen chatting on the phone in the background. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 7 Oct. 2026 One kitten stared transfixed through the glass while the other, unfazed, was more interested in darting around playfully. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026 Cam Smith spoiled a third consecutive two-strike slider, stared into the first-base dugout and saw his manager applauding. — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stared
  1. gazed
  2. gawked
  3. peered
Verb
  • Johnson gazed at one of his own paintings, which hangs in the dark-red lounge and features outlines of houses.
    — Emma Allen, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The fact that Drew still gazed upon my more than half-a-century-old, decidedly not-hot physique with love and desire was a marvel and a gift.
    — Diana Daniele, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of gazed
Verb
  • People in surrounding cars gawked, waved and, in one instance, rolled down their windows to shout something that went unheard, as Bonelli explained that the van had internal cameras that were always on but not always being watched.
    — Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2026
  • On Thursday, the nuisance from the wings was the one being gawked at by a cast young enough to be his kids — a detail Wilson clocked from backstage.
    — Sarah Grant, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of gawked
Verb
  • Families peered out at us suspiciously from curtainless windows in ramshackle brick dwellings.
    — Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The monastery-hermitage that the Anantara Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi lives in has peered over this endlessly entrancing Tyrrhenian view of sunsets and moonshine since the 13th century, which is priceless.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of peered

Browse Nearby Words

stare
stared
stared down
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Cite this Entry

“Stared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stared. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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