ogle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
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to eye; look or stare at.
verb (used without object)
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to look amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
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to look or stare.
noun
verb
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to look at (someone) amorously or lustfully
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(tr) to stare or gape at
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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oglesimple
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oglessimple
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have ogledperfect
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has ogledperfect
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am oglingprogressive
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are oglingprogressive
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is oglingprogressive
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have been oglingperfect progressive
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has been oglingperfect progressive
Past
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ogledsimple
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had ogledperfect
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was oglingprogressive
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were oglingprogressive
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had been oglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ogle
1670–80; apparently < Dutch, frequentative ( see -le) of oogen to make eyes at, derivative of oog eye (compare Low German oegeln, German äugeln )
Explanation
When you ogle someone, you look at them with love or desire in mind. And if you're a cartoon character, you might also be drooling. Though it's most often used to refer to the way people gaze at each other, the verb ogle can also be used when talking about any object of desire — like when you ogle those designer jeans or that red Ferrari. The word comes from the 1680s German word oeglen, meaning "look at." Men are known to ogle women much more frequently than women ogle men. Ever seen a scene in a movie where a pretty lady walks into a bar and all the men turn on their bar stools to watch her pass by? That's classic ogling.
Vocabulary lists containing ogle
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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:
Nearly half a million people were expected to pass through the sprawling Javits Convention Center, from industry bigwigs to families just coming to ogle hundreds of new vehicles on display.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
The Echo Park shop features Harris’ whimsical, sometimes futuristic designs to ogle — and smell — while you order an oat chagaccino that brings its own earthy, sweet fragrance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
Well, at least we can ogle some pics and see how the strange looks of the Pixel 6 will evolve.
From The Verge ● May 11, 2022
“I’m wearing big Thom Browne sunglasses so I can ogle people without them knowing I’m looking at them,” the actress said, laughing.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2022
Ralph could only ogle, though, helpless with envy, as Grover balled up his napkin.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
In the 1988 movie “Working Girl,” an assistant secretly stays at her absent boss’ apartment, ogles its opulence alongside her best friend and tries on a dress with a $6,000 price tag.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
The Emcee’s funhouse reflection signifies not only how straight culture ogles the novelty of a newly surfaced queer society in Weimar Berlin but also how that queer community ogles at the novelty of itself.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
In another short scene, he ogles electric guitars through a shop window.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2019
Rachel is also a fantasist: She ogles another couple, dreaming about their lives.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2016
When he builds a fire in my stove, he ogles every log, as if it ought to feel it an honor to be permitted to help keep me warm.
From On the Heights A Novel by Auerbach, Berthold
As a young investment banker new to the city, I ogled it in the windows of the home shop D.F.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
Grandpa wrote a 300-dollar check for a 1940 Studebaker Commander, the sweetest ride my father had ever ogled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
I ogled the rarities in used bookshops and prowled through hole-in-the wall thrift stores.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2020
Rayden and Brock ogled the robots, spaceships, smoke and lasers during their personal Star Wars tour.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 28, 2019
In return there was a fantastic, visceral payoff—a single season of his life in which he became a prince, ogled at, treasured, bathed in the unimaginable glory of Friday night.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Smacking his head on a lamppost while chasing one woman and ogling another, Damien is transported to a parallel universe in which women don’t just run the world, the nature of the sexes has flipped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
But instead of ogling violence to exploit its evil and nauseate the audience, Lynch calls attention to the systems that propagate it.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025
She notices that great artworks, when surrounded by throngs of ogling tourists, can emit a sense of being “victimized.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024
His face obscured and his blank white uniform disclosing neither team nor number, he is resolutely anonymous — as anonymous as the throng ogling in the stands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
“You’re so lucky, Virginia!” they say when they visit me at the hotel, ogling the indoor garden and skylight and elegant furniture.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
