1
as in eying
to keep one's eyes on
I turned my head to continue watching the bird as it flew away
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in following
to take notice of and be guided by
watch what I do when I run into that kind of problem
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in monitoring
to pay continued close attention to (something) for a particular purpose
watched the situation to see if it improved
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in caring
to have an interest or concern for
you should watch what you eat if you want a long, healthy life
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in supervising
to take charge of especially on behalf of another
hired a high school girl to watch their daughter until they got home from work
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 watching
Someone watching Earth from this vantage point would have no way of predicting that intelligent life would someday emerge on this water-rich world.
—
Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Azarakhsh Jalalvand of Princeton University, the paper’s lead author, compares the concept to an AI watching a silent movie and generating a full soundtrack purely from the visual information.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Like Roan, Jadoré Aimee’s interest in drag performing also started after watching a show at Hamburger Mary’s.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
Sullivan and his assistants in New York spent all those hours watching film to draw inspiration from the successful coaches around the league and determine the best path for their new team.
—Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Target parents watching kids’ shows.
—Adam Rumanek, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
One of the movie’s most powerful moments comes at the end, when, after two hours of watching Johnson’s devastating performance, the audience sees the real Mark Kerr shopping in a grocery store.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
That’s all fine and dandy, but watching these two numbskulls, like Pinky and the Brain with lobotomies, try to take down Tamra is not fun.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
One thing that occurred to me watching this was that the band started in 1973 and then The Truth About De-Evolution movie comes out in 1976.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 25 Sep. 2025
Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Azarakhsh Jalalvand of Princeton University, the paper’s lead author, compares the concept to an AI watching a silent movie and generating a full soundtrack purely from the visual information.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
Like Roan, Jadoré Aimee’s interest in drag performing also started after watching a show at Hamburger Mary’s.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
Sullivan and his assistants in New York spent all those hours watching film to draw inspiration from the successful coaches around the league and determine the best path for their new team.
—Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Target parents watching kids’ shows.
—Adam Rumanek, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
One of the movie’s most powerful moments comes at the end, when, after two hours of watching Johnson’s devastating performance, the audience sees the real Mark Kerr shopping in a grocery store.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
That’s all fine and dandy, but watching these two numbskulls, like Pinky and the Brain with lobotomies, try to take down Tamra is not fun.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
One thing that occurred to me watching this was that the band started in 1973 and then The Truth About De-Evolution movie comes out in 1976.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watching
Verb
-
In four days, their season was over following a Wild Card Series loss to the New York Yankees, a series where their youth and inexperience showed.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The series’ first season, chronicling the crimes of Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, prompted a conversation about the exploitation of Black and disabled people’s stories for entertainment, while the season following the Menendez Brothers led to a real-world reconsidering of their guilt.—
Mathew Rodriguez,
Them.,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The center had dozens of monitoring cameras, and Lowe’s brought in thermal drones to survey the area.—
John Raby,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
-
The Orleans Justice Center is operating at only 60% staffing, and at the time of the escape, four supervisors and 36 staff members were monitoring 1,400 inmates, authorities said.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Gorgeous and caring to the last.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
-
From chemistry to caring Ramirez was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, known for its silver mines, agriculture, and strong cultural pride.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Some genres may be extremely violent and gory, so parents may want to consider supervising their children's viewing of films or avoid them altogether.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Advertisement Concerns about damage to parks Former park officials and advocates have expressed fear that protected land will be damaged by visitors if sites are left partially open while thousands of workers are furloughed or fired, and therefore absent from supervising lands.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Health inspectors cited the liquor store after observing a lack of paper towels and hand soap at the handwashing station.—
Sarah Linn,
Sacbee.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
While Piaget was certainly correct in observing that children engage in a host of unusual behaviors, my lab recently uncovered evidence that upends some long-standing assumptions about the limits of children’s logical capabilities that originated with his work.—
Celeste Kidd,
The Conversation,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
No other products or services will be impacted, the agency said, noting the move is a strategic part of USPS’s 10-year plan to create a revitalized organization.—
Michelle Del Rey,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Democrats have called the claims a lie, noting that undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for payments from Medicare, Medicaid, or the Affordable Care Act.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Luciano Valente pressed high onto McGinn, leaving midfield partner Hwang In-beom covering both No 10s.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
All kinds of high school sports events and the monster that was covering college recruiting.—
Nicole Young,
Nashville Tennessean,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
There have been protests outside of ICE facilities there, but the federal judge overseeing the case said the protests have been small and manageable by local police.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
6 Oct. 2025
-
The judge overseeing the Maryland deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has denied the government's request to delay proceedings because of the government shutdown.—
Ely Brown,
ABC News,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Watching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watching. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share