as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
couldn't help gawking at the exotically dressed guests in the hotel lobby
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 gawking
Instead, the skin-frying Friday saw common flow of people going through, gawking at the large screens and a group of sailors allowing some passing by to do pull-ups from a bar.
—
Amethyst Martinez,
USA Today,
3 July 2026
The walk to the stadium is a mile or so along the Alaskan Way, where restaurants like the Crab Pot are opening up, but everyone is gawking at the street spectacle.
—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
Shoppers are gawking at their climbing receipts as food costs continue to climb.
—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
8 June 2026
This seemingly reflexive action of whipping out their phones while gawking and filming isn’t a novel occurrence.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
4 May 2026
Those are important characteristics for advertisers seeking to make dynamic campaigns for an audience that's grown accustomed to viewing short-form videos on Reels or gawking at cat photos on Facebook and Instagram.
—
Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
9 Apr. 2026
On a typical day, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale reverberates with animal cries and the footfalls of gawking visitors.
—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Armed soldiers patrolled in droves, spreading hate and fear everywhere, blindfolding children, pointing guns, gawking, spitting, laughing at us like animals in the zoo.
—
Literary Hub,
20 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
Amethyst Martinez,
USA Today,
3 July 2026
The walk to the stadium is a mile or so along the Alaskan Way, where restaurants like the Crab Pot are opening up, but everyone is gawking at the street spectacle.
—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
Shoppers are gawking at their climbing receipts as food costs continue to climb.
—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
8 June 2026
This seemingly reflexive action of whipping out their phones while gawking and filming isn’t a novel occurrence.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
4 May 2026
Those are important characteristics for advertisers seeking to make dynamic campaigns for an audience that's grown accustomed to viewing short-form videos on Reels or gawking at cat photos on Facebook and Instagram.
—
Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
9 Apr. 2026
On a typical day, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale reverberates with animal cries and the footfalls of gawking visitors.
—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Armed soldiers patrolled in droves, spreading hate and fear everywhere, blindfolding children, pointing guns, gawking, spitting, laughing at us like animals in the zoo.
—
Literary Hub,
20 Feb. 2026
Setting aside the gawking nature of certain style choices (the warped, swiveling, 360-degree shots used when someone starts talking about particularly demented ideas are nauseating on multiple levels), the series too closely mirrors its subjects’ insularity.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gawking
Verb
-
The banners of Hightower green burning in the night, Rhaenyra staring ominously through the flames.
-
Now, yes, staring at the ceiling long enough to draw you a diagram of the paint peeling.
Verb
-
Isn’t that what any of us wants when gazing into the mirror held up to nature, as Hamlet describes the theater?
-
Soul gazing The following morning, the participants wake up with maybe the clearest heads in Nashville.
Cite this Entry
“Gawking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gawking. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
