gaze

American  

[gayz] / geɪz /

verb (used without object)

• gazes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gazed,
  past participle,  past
• gazing
  present participle

1. 

   to look steadily and intently, as with great curiosity, interest, pleasure, or wonder.

---

noun

• gazes
  plural

1. a steady or intent look.

2. Heraldry. at gaze, (of a deer or deerlike animal) represented as seen from the side with the head looking toward the spectator.

   a stag at gaze.

gaze British  

/ ɡeɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to look long and fixedly, esp in wonder or admiration

---

noun

1. a fixed look; stare

Synonym Usage

Gaze, stare, gape suggest looking fixedly at something. To gaze is to look steadily and intently at something, especially at that which excites admiration, curiosity, or interest: to gaze at scenery, at a scientific experiment. To stare is to gaze with eyes wide open, as from surprise, wonder, alarm, stupidity, or impertinence: to stare unbelievingly or rudely. Gape is a word with uncomplimentary connotations; it suggests open-mouthed, often ignorant or rustic wonderment or curiosity: to gape at a tall building or a circus parade.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gazer
  noun
• outgaze
  verb (used with object)
• gazeless
  adjective
• ungazing
  adjective
• gazingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gazes
  plural

Participles

• gazing
  present
• gazed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gaze
  simple
• gazes
  simple
• have gazed
  perfect
• has gazed
  perfect
• am gazing
  progressive
• are gazing
  progressive
• is gazing
  progressive
• have been gazing
  perfect progressive
• has been gazing
  perfect progressive

Past

• gazed
  simple
• had gazed
  perfect
• was gazing
  progressive
• were gazing
  progressive
• had been gazing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gaze
  simple
• will have gazed
  perfect
• will be gazing
  progressive
• will have been gazing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gaze

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gasen; compare Norwegian, Swedish (dialect) gasa “to look”

Explanation

When someone lays eyes on you and keeps looking, it is a gaze or a stare. You can gaze back or just say, "Take a picture; it lasts longer." Gaze is both a verb and a noun. When people daydream, they often gaze off into the distance without focusing on anything. Another type of gaze, though, is to look very intently at something, as when you gaze at the sky making pictures out of clouds. A contest to see who will blink first means taking a long gaze into someone's eyes, and this type of gaze (the noun) will leave your eyes in a bit of a haze when you're done.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gaze gazes gazed gazing

He retells his memories with an unflinching gaze.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has completed an important series of tests showing that it can keep its gaze extremely steady during observations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Eckert speaks slowly and with an intense gaze when asked to reflect on being at the centre of one of the biggest controversies in English football history.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

When you gaze into the black box, the black box calculates how best to gaze back.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

I had known from childhood that the earth opened and the heavens rained fire upon liars, but I met his gaze.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Dogs became extraordinarily sensitive to human behavior, following our gazes and gestures and learning our patterns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

At one point in the clip, the white pup gazes adoringly at the NFL star before hopping onto a couch to snuggle beside him while Kelce lovingly pets the pooch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026

Her fingers constantly twist a tissue as she tries to maintain her composure and she gazes into the distance as tears well up behind her glasses.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Three months after state vets seized and killed hundreds of his sheep to stamp out an ongoing pox pandemic, Kostas Theofilou fights back tears as he gazes at his empty stable.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

Michael pivots slowly, gazes out in the direction of the trees for a few seconds, and then wham, he releases the throw.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

It was nearly a half decade ago that Lincoln Riley, dressed in a slick blue suit and glossy cardinal tie, stood atop the Coliseum’s rooftop deck, grinning as he gazed out across the field below.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

Kaur appeared visibly upset in the dock as the verdict was read out, while Digwa showed little emotion and gazed out into the courtroom.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

An American flag waved in the background while various figures gazed up at the president in reverence.

From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026

In a story in “Ladies’ Lunch,” an old woman, disheveled after an outing, looks in a mirror and sees “what Diane Arbus might have seen. She gazed, appalled, and being appalled pricked her interest.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

He sounded almost nostalgic and gazed out the hayloft window for a long minute before turning back to Penelope.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

"I'm crystal ball gazing and can do it reasonably well on a good day, but nowhere near with the clarity of the nanopore, which gives a comprehensive molecular classification," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Moving through discussions of Malcolm McDowell’s typecasting and group lessons in Irish, led by Cushla, they will go beyond gazing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

The storyline is inscrutable, but Walters displays real range, gazing forlornly in the rain, hurling dishes at a wall, grinning and giving high-fives when a family takes him bowling.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

“I’m a regular person, like you,” Hal says, gazing directly through the fourth wall at the tiny people he assumes are worshipping him from afar.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

She was gazing out of the window now at the children.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo