RUBBERNECKING Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

rubbernecking 1 of 2

noun

as in eavesdropping

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Dissimilar Words

rubbernecking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of rubberneck

as in gawking

to look long and hard in wonder or surprise thoughtless drivers pausing on the highway to rubberneck at the accident

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 rubbernecking

Verb

As a result, traffic between Morton Grove and Skokie has slowed to a crawl, and on the inbound side there has also been a slowdown due to rubbernecking. — Kris Habermehl, CBS News, 4 May 2026 Instead, Malinin popped his quad axel, the beginning of four minutes that started to feel like rubbernecking a car accident. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Feb. 2026 The whole of football is rubbernecking in their direction. — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbernecking

Noun

More than a year after the tapes were shared, District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged Flores for violating a decades-old California eavesdropping statute that prohibits secret recordings without informed consent of all parties present.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
Now, for the second straight summer, 49ers training camp goes on without him on the sideline — strolling, watching, eavesdropping, muttering.

— Cam Inman, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of eavesdropping

Verb

On most days the Jewel House in the Tower of London is packed with tourists gawking at the fabled British Crown Jewels.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026
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

Definition of gawking

Noun

First, legislative majorities overrode the Court, repeatedly ignoring its rulings and adjusting the number of Justices to prevent its interference.

— Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
This month, the bureau's parent agency, the Commerce Department, quietly cut language banning political interference from the department's scientific integrity policy, NPR has learned.

— Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of interference

Verb

Finkelstein is also part of another program that will attempt to re-create Hubble and JWST’s famous deep-field images, which revealed millions of previously unseen galaxies by staring at seemingly empty patches of sky.

— Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026
When producer Robert Stigwood initially approached him about staring in the Sgt.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of staring

Verb

For example, some sculptures establish sight lines while gazing toward other sculptures—a bronze representation of the messenger god Mercury in the Carter Collection room stares beyond its space to the Bateman Mercury, ca.

— George Baker, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
In photos shared by The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust on Instagram, Parton is seen gazing down at Emma as a newborn while holding her in the hospital, as her parents happily watch on.

— Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of gazing

Noun

Stern placed the disagreement over the bill within a broader, historical Jewish practice of debate and questioning.

— Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Nonprofit boards offer an excellent starting point, providing opportunities to develop crucial governance skills like strategic thinking, accountability, and constructive questioning.

— Melissa A. Wheeler, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of questioning

Noun

The guests themselves remained enshrouded in secrecy as black cars were seen driving into a large white tent, with the entrance set off by black curtains, shielding attendees from nearby prying eyes.

— Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
Meanwhile, celebrities opting for real-life mountain living include Tom Cruise with his staggering 298-acre mountain estate, as well as Oprah Winfrey, who both chose Telluride, Colorado to build in, live in and escape prying paparazzi.

— Catherine Dunwoody, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of prying

Browse Nearby Words

rubberneckers

rubbernecking

rubbernecks

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Style

“Rubbernecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbernecking. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of rubbernecking

noun

verb

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