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Stare vs Gawk - What's the difference?

stare | gawk |

As verbs the difference between stare and gawk

is that stare is to look fixedly (at something) while gawk is to stare or gape stupidly.

As nouns the difference between stare and gawk

is that stare is a persistent gaze while gawk is a cuckoo.

stare

English

(wikipedia stare)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . More at (l).

Verb

(star)
  • To look fixedly (at something).
  • {{quote-Fanny Hill, part=2 , Her sturdy stallion had now unbutton'd, and produced naked, stiff, and erect, that wonderful machine, which I had never seen before, and which, for the interest my own seat of pleasure began to take furiously in it, I star'd at with all the eyes I had}}
  • *
  • *:A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.
  • To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, colour, or brilliancy.
  • :staring windows or colours
  • (obsolete) To stand out; to project; to bristle.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare .
  • * John Mortimer (1656?-1736)
  • *:Take off all the staring straws and jags in the hive.
  • Troponyms
    * gaze, to stare intently or earnestly * ogle, to stare covetously or amorously
    Derived terms
    * stare someone in the face

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A persistent gaze.
  • the stares of astonished passers-by

    Etymology 2

    (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A starling.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    gawk

    English

    Etymology 1

    From a variant of gowk, from (etyl) gowke, from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a cuckoo
  • (Johnson)
  • a fool
  • (Carlyle)

    Etymology 2

    A Middle-Appalachian Americanism, since late 1800s, possibly misconstruing French "gauche," and leading to use of adj gawky for a person or process that is uncoordinated or awkward.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a simpleton, stupid or clumsy person.
  • Etymology 3

    Perhaps from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To stare or gape stupidly
  • To stare conspicuously.