STARING Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

staring

verb

present participle of stare

as in gazing

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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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 staring Before ChatGPT came on the scene, chipmakers were staring at a post-COVID chip glut. — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 Taken roughly two decades after her prison ordeal, the image reveals a still formidable figure, a woman unbroken by countless trials, staring straight into the camera’s lens. — Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026 Ward is 3-19 as a starting quarterback, which includes a 0-7 mark against AFC South foes, and is staring another loss to a divisional rival in the face with the Titans traveling to Indianapolis to take on the Colts on Sunday. — Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026 Sometimes the smartest move is to stop staring at the problem long enough to remember the bigger picture. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 13 Oct. 2026 Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and staring directly at the radiant can actually mean seeing shorter meteor trails. — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 12 Oct. 2026 Instead of everybody facing one direction staring at the DJ, Savage wants the environment to be about the ambiance, the music, and the people in the space, not just who’s playing. — Candace Hansen, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026 But a week or two later, instead of a lush, green carpet, you’re left staring at patchy, yellowing, or unchanged grass. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 7 Oct. 2026 Unable to sleep, the boy would be out on the deck, staring at the island city before him. — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for staring

Verb

Frequent elections, impatient constituents and the unrelenting pressure of the news cycle do not provide rewards for gazing into crystal balls or enacting visionary policies whose benefits may only be evident years later.

— John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
Calvo, meanwhile, sits at a desk in his hotel room, gazing into the camera lens placidly while idly sketching on a sheet of paper.

— Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of gazing

Verb

The film opens with Tenzing as a boy, gawking at Mount Everest, which looms across the valley like Godzilla.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of gawking

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star (in)

staring

staring down

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“Staring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/staring. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of staring

verb

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