as in to gaze
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in gaze
a fixed intent look
caught the child's wide-eyed stare on film
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Recent Examples of stare
Paul Sutter, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2026
The fact that tourists want to come here and just stare around buildings.
—Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 24 Apr. 2026
Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
To play for Hurley is to understand that taking a play off is not acceptable, that bending over and tugging at your short hems – a sure sign, in Hurley’s estimation, of weakness – will earn you either a death stare or a run up the steps.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stare
Verb
That's a lot of late nights and early mornings staring at the sky.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2026
The fact that tourists want to come here and just stare around buildings.
—Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 24 Apr. 2026
Noun
However, the 28-year-old’s 87th-minute equaliser was quickly forgotten after Vedat Muriqi’s 91st-minute winner for Mallorca, and the closing image for Madrid was unused substitute Dani Carvajal’s thousand-yard stare from the bench after the final whistle.
—Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
To play for Hurley is to understand that taking a play off is not acceptable, that bending over and tugging at your short hems – a sure sign, in Hurley’s estimation, of weakness – will earn you either a death stare or a run up the steps.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stare
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stare
Verb
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All three writers turned loving, humorous, piercing gazes on a particular place, exploring, through cycles of plays, the rich humanity and the grave historical wounds of its inhabitants.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
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One untitled work from 1994 shows a strange monster—a guard bent over, gazing back at us between his own legs, his upside-down grin framed by his jackboots.—
Ben Davis,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Locals complained tourist gawked at them or traipsed through their yards.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Apr. 2026
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Millions attended these exhibits and then went home to gawk at the vehicles at their local store.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stare.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stare. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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