ogle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
ogles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ogled,
past participle, past
-
ogling
present participle
-
to look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
-
to eye; look or stare at.
verb (used without object)
-
ogles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ogled,
past participle, past
-
ogling
present participle
-
to look amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
-
to look or stare.
noun
verb
-
to look at (someone) amorously or lustfully
-
(tr) to stare or gape at
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
oglesimple
-
oglessimple
-
have ogledperfect
-
has ogledperfect
-
am oglingprogressive
-
are oglingprogressive
-
is oglingprogressive
-
have been oglingperfect progressive
-
has been oglingperfect progressive
Past
-
ogledsimple
-
had ogledperfect
-
was oglingprogressive
-
were oglingprogressive
-
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
100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Dear Martin
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
All my pet infatuations — visual art, trash culture, ephemera, kitsch, history — were there to ogle, well lit and attractively photographed.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
And if you walk into a friend’s house and ogle a kitchen that costs more than your annual salary, you may be made acutely aware of a class divide.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2021
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
You stare—and old Peter, there, opens his ogles now.
From Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth
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
Throngs of mostly male visitors ogled displays of the latest in horsepower and luxury from Wolfsburg, Munich and Stuttgart.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
The spectroscopy data—arcane squiggles on line graphs—still have a long way to go before being ogled for any beautiful mysteries revealed.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 19, 2018
She was ogled and examined as if she were a rogue zebra when really she was simply a thoroughbred — Spelman College, Yale Law School — who’d broken away from the pack.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 7, 2018
In the taxi her parents talked in whispers while Shirley ogled the tall buildings.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
A dirty secret about pageants is that behind the smiles and the ogling, a great part of their fuel is female ambition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
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
The plot hinges on a $300,000 engagement ring that goes missing after it has been passed around the dinner table for ogling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2023
He handed me the jacket, interrupting my ogling.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
