gawk
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
noun
verb
Usage
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."
Etymology
Origin of gawk
1775–85; apparently representing OE word meaning fool, equivalent to ga(gol) foolish + -oc -ock; used attributively in gawk hand, gallock hand left hand
Explanation
When you stare in amazement at something, you gawk at it. You might stand frozen in one position with your mouth and eyes wide open and gawk when you see a famous movie star on the street. The verb gawk was first recorded in American English in 1785. It may have evolved from the word gaw, which came from the Middle English word gowen, meaning "to stare." When you gawk at something, you get completely absorbed in what you're looking at. It's usually not considered polite behavior to gawk at another person, especially if it's someone you find attractive. After all, staring is rude.
Vocabulary lists containing gawk
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Comedian Daniel Tosh even parlayed a desire to gawk at the web’s inept and unaware into a vicious update of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” that aired on Comedy Central for years.
From Salon • Feb. 16, 2026
Visitors strolling Hollywood Boulevard stopped to gawk at the gathering, which blocked two lanes of eastbound traffic in the busy tourist area.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2025
But whether spectators were there to pay their respects to someone they admired or to gawk at the cortège for another one of Hollywood’s dead blondes is its own question.
From Salon • Jun. 27, 2025
Some tourists are just people on vacation there to gawk, while others are influencers there for content.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025
I crouched down beside Gum Baby and tried not to gawk at the size of everything around me.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
