stare
/stɛː
/verb [no object]
1Look fixedly or vacantly at someone or something with one’s eyes wide open: he stared at her in amazement Robyn sat staring into space, her mind numb...
- The rest of us sat staring into space, apparently waiting for an answer to arrive like a visitor from the spirit world.
- I just couldn't muster the willpower to finish them off and was just sat staring into space.
- This meant that I had low energy and I tended to sit and stare into space.
Synonyms
gaze, gape, goggle, gawk, glare, ogle, leer, peer, look fixedly, look vacantly;
study, survey, observe, watch closely, eyeball, outstare
informal rubberneck
British informal gawp
1.1(Of a person’s eyes) be wide open, with a fixed or vacant expression: her grey eyes stared back at him...
- They were like the zombies of paradise, their mouths hanging open, their eyes staring up at the screen.
- His fists pumped the air, wide eyes staring at the night sky that he had thought he would never see again.
- Her mask had gone and her eyes were staring, wide with obvious panic but unseeing.
1.2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Be unpleasantly prominent or striking: the obituaries stared out at us...
- He finally turned his gaze to her, his glare seeming to stare straight into her soul.
- Just a few feet off the starboard bow, the bloated carcass of a full-grown steer stared back at us.
noun
A long fixed or vacant look: she gave him a cold stare...
- He gave me a cold stare and returned his attention to his girlfriend.
- He returned his cold stare to the carefree couple below and fantasized about his victory.
- She gazed at him in wonder, and he returned her stare with a look of friendly curiosity.
Phrases
be staring one in the face
be staring something in the face
stare someone in the eye (or face)
Phrasal verbs
stare someone out (or down)
Derivatives
starer
- Johansson loves the fact that she's now someone others stare at because she's a self-confessed starer.
- The stare-down occurs if the said starer just feels the other girl is prettier.
- Sheldrake suggests that the two starers may have differed in their beliefs concerning the ability to detect unseen staring.
Origin
Old English starian, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning 'be rigid'.