gawk

[ gawk ]

verb (used without object)

1. to stare stupidly; gape:

   The onlookers gawked at arriving celebrities.

   Synonyms: rubberneck, goggle, gaze, ogle, peer

noun

1. an awkward, foolish person.

gawk

/ ɡɔːk /

noun

1. a clumsy stupid person; lout

verb

1. intr to stare in a stupid way; gape

Word History and Origins

Origin of gawk¹

1775–85; apparently representing OE word meaning fool, equivalent to ga(gol) foolish + -oc -ock; used attributively in gawk hand, gallock hand left hand

Word History and Origins

Origin of gawk¹

C18: from Old Danish gaukr; probably related to gape

Example Sentences

It would definitely be wrong for TLC to encourage us to gawk at these men but their story is worth investigating nonetheless.

From The Daily Beast

More than 50,000 cars passed along Quiet Dell Road so people could gawk.

From The Daily Beast

GAWK at the unparalleled treasures of the State Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace.

From The Daily Beast

Rather than be instructional or cautionary, the show turns its subjects into feasting zoo objects for audiences to gawk at.

From The Daily Beast

Of those snapping pictures, almost all were locals who had paused to gawk at the strange sight.

From The Daily Beast

Ere Alfred could reply, a big gawk chimed in with: "By the dust on their britches laigs I callerate they didn't ride much."

From Project Gutenberg

Several spectators stopped venting their wrath on the unfortunate man in the ring to gawk at the couple.

From Project Gutenberg

Well, Weener, are you going to stand there and gawk for the next twentyfour hours or are you coming back with us?

From Project Gutenberg

The silly old gawk has got hold of your father and has actually made the old man believe that you are bewitched!

From Project Gutenberg

She was tall and lean—a college friend had described her exactly as "half goddess and half gawk."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• gape
• glare
• ogle

More About Gawk

Where does the word gawk come from?

We’ve all gawked, or “stared stupidly,” at various spectacles, from acrobats to celebrity meltdowns.

Word nerds gawk at the origin of gawk—because it’s a spectacular puzzle.

Gawk is recorded in 1775–85 in American English. It’s believed that gawk is based on an Old English word meaning “fool,” which appears in gawk hand or gallock hand, referring to the left hand. Our apologies, lefties.

An alternative idea is that gawk is based on gaw, an old word meaning “to gaze, stare,” with an additional -k suffix found in other words such as talk and stalk.

Stubborn isn’t alone: it finds lots of company in other English words that seem simple but whose origins are not. Discover more in our slideshow “‘Dog,’ ‘Boy,’ And Other Words That We Don’t Know Where They Came From.”

Did you know … ?

Gawk is just one of the many words we use to describe looking at something in a certain way. Other words that are close in meaning to gawk include gape and ogle. Gawk can be easily confused with other forms of looking, such as stare, gaze, leer, eyeball, and scan.

Looking for more synonyms for gawk? Why not take a peek at Thesaurus.com for our many synonyms for the words see and look.

So, when should you use gawk as opposed to, say, gaze? Gawk is generally used when something or someone stupefies a person to the point that all they can do is stare in confusion, amazement, or disbelief. You can gawk at something bad (e.g., He stood and gawked at the train accident) or something good, as in The judge couldn’t help but gawk at the amazing gymnastics routine.