gaze
/ɡeɪz
/verb [no object, with adverbial of direction]
Look steadily and intently, especially in admiration, surprise, or thought: he could only gaze at her in astonishment...
- The boy didn't look up but instead kept on gazing intently at the boring grey material of the driver's seat.
- A wolf stood at the rim of the hollow, gazing at them intently with golden eyes.
- It was difficult to focus her eyes, but she saw that he was gazing intently into them.
Synonyms
stare, look fixedly, look vacantly, look, take a good look, gape, goggle, peer, leer;
ogle, eye, contemplate, survey, scan, study
informal gawk at, rubberneck at, give something the once-over, get a load of, check out
British informal gawp at
North American informal eyeball
literary behold
noun
1A steady intent look: he turned, following her gaze offices screened from the public gaze...
- The sequence is silent and directs viewers' attention to the intent gazes of museum-goers and the degrees of engagement or distraction.
- The gaze is steady and there is both a reserve and a frank regard in her eyes.
- When I walk up to the back of a crowd of people his eyes shift to mine and his gaze is steady.
Synonyms
stare, fixed look, intent look, gape, eye;
regard, watch, observance, inspection, scrutiny
1.1(In literary theory) a particular perspective considered as embodying certain aspects of the relationship between observer and observed: the male gaze...
- His blindness ensures that she does not, once again, become the object of the male gaze.
- There seems to be a female gaze that is pretty much like the male gaze, if you ask me.
- As a first step, I closely examine the passage, its narrative strategies and the gaze, or rather gazes, that inform it.
Derivatives
gazer
/ noun ...- Turning the gaze onto the gazers, a group left unstudied in the majority of literature on sex work, she unpacks how trips to the strip club are closely linked with discourses about sexuality, consumption and masculinity.
- The group of chess lovers is often clamorous, but always concentrating, with more gazers and supporters than real players, each viewer a potential undercover chess player.
- If the conditions and western horizon are clear, the sky gazers could easily watch the event with naked eye till about 7.45 p.m., he says.
Origin
Late Middle English: perhaps related to obsolete gaw (see gawk).