gawk
Americanverb (used without object)
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gawks,
present (3rd person singular)
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gawked,
past participle, past
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gawking
present participle
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."
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gawksimple
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gawkssimple
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have gawkedperfect
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has gawkedperfect
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am gawkingprogressive
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are gawkingprogressive
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is gawkingprogressive
-
have been gawkingperfect progressive
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has been gawkingperfect progressive
Past
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gawkedsimple
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had gawkedperfect
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was gawkingprogressive
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were gawkingprogressive
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had been gawkingperfect progressive
Future
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
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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.
See Examples For:
So-called rogues galleries allowed the public to gawk at images.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Redick said he was simply poking his head into the situation the way people might turn their heads to gawk at commotion in a bar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026
The explosion happens in slow motion, allowing viewers to gawk at all of DeYoung’s shrewdly constructed, cinematic shrapnel.
From Salon ● May 12, 2025
Nearly 100 reporters still showed up to gawk at their greatness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
Daddy helps me to Momma’s car, and people in the halls gawk.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
The crowd gawks at her — devout eyes wide, lips parted as if witnessing a miracle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Anyone who sits through the end credits of a franchise movie and gawks at screens filled with hundreds of names of special effects and visual effects crew knows most of the is digitally animated.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2024
The sweet little shrug that the grown-up, matronly Dakota Johnson gives to Dismukes, as he gawks at her younger self strutting around the stage, makes the entire sketch worthwhile.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
You can’t get strangers to help you lay that foundation — the world gawks, it can’t help itself — but you can ask the grandmas and certainly the teachers to.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2022
A middle-aged couple sitting on a bench by the front door gawks unabashedly.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Another gawked in horror as a squealing toddler tore through the store while their mom examined the chocolate moon rocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
In addition to a steady stream of sellers, the machine also drew the attention of bystanders who gawked at the large sums of money changing hands at the unassuming corner of the mall.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
In Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on Sunday, onlookers gawked at a charred hilltop, where newly fallen leaves had already obscured the scorched earth of Friday’s 2-acre brushfire.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2024
More than a dozen onlookers gawked from the beach and others watched from the pier as the bizarre situation continued to unfold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
“Fetch me a robe, lack-wit. I’m sick of being gawked at by you and every other mewler that decided to go marketing today.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
This is not about gawking at illness or punishing people for seeking care.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
In recent days, social media has been filled with videos of Europeans gawking at the staples of suburban American life—a two-car garage, a walk-in closet, a second refrigerator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
People watching from inside the building could be seen gawking and tapping at the glass, as Honnold moved past the enclosed observation deck on the 89th floor.
From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026
Admiring the stationery and figurines at the original Webster’s Pharmacy and gawking at the endless array of birds at Steve’s Pets shop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026
His gawking at other women when I am still so young and attractive myself, and with my nerves shot already, I might add, since I have been through so much.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
