stare
Americanverb (used without object)
-
stares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stared,
past participle, past
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staring
present participle
-
to gaze fixedly and intently, especially with the eyes wide open.
-
to be boldly or obtrusively conspicuous.
The bright modern painting stares out at you in the otherwise conservative gallery.
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to be patently or compellingly obvious.
The stark, staring fact is, you can't do something with nothing.
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(of hair, feathers, etc.) to stick out or stand on end; bristle.
Both male and female pheasants are rough-footed and have staring feathers around the head and neck.
verb (used with object)
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stares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stared,
past participle, past
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staring
present participle
-
to stare at.
to stare a person up and down.
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to effect or have a certain effect on by staring.
They all laughed at me and stared me into silence.
noun
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stares
plural
verb phrase
idioms
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stare (something) in the face, to confront or be confronted by (something unpleasant).
The company is staring bankruptcy in the face.
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stare one in the face,
-
(especially of something undesirable) to be patently or compellingly obvious.
Sounds like a far-fetched theory, but when the evidence is staring you in the face, you have to take notice.
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to be urgent or impending; be about to happen.
The income tax deadline is staring us in the face.
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staring down the barrel of,
-
having (a firearm) aimed at one, especially at close range.
He turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle.
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facing (a threat, challenging situation, or imminent disaster).
Motorists are staring down the barrel of a major hike in the price of fuel.
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verb
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to look or gaze fixedly, often with hostility or rudeness
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(intr) (of an animal's fur, bird's feathers, etc) to stand on end because of fear, ill health, etc
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(intr) to stand out as obvious; glare
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to be glaringly obvious or imminent
noun
noun
Synonym Usage
See gaze.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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staresimple
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staressimple
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have staredperfect
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has staredperfect
-
am staringprogressive
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are staringprogressive
-
is staringprogressive
-
have been staringperfect progressive
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has been staringperfect progressive
Past
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staredsimple
-
had staredperfect
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was staringprogressive
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were staringprogressive
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had been staringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stare
First recorded before 900; Middle English staren, Old English starian; cognate with Dutch staren, German starren, Old Norse stara; akin to stark, starve
Explanation
To stare is to fix your eyes on a subject. As hard as it might be to resist looking at them for long periods of time, it's not polite to stare at celebrities. The noun stare is a certain kind of gaze — a long, intense one. The verb to stare is the act of staring, of locking one's eyes somewhere. When one stares at something, one looks at it for a long period of time, often with great intensity and without blinking. That's why one loses a staring contest when one blinks. Try not to stare at people when they're eating. It's rude! A stare is usually more intense and creepier than a gaze.
Vocabulary lists containing stare
Beowulf vocabulary
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Now See Here: Words For Looking
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
In its weather, its soundtrack and the haunted stare of Jake Gyllenhaal, it evokes the weeks after 9/11, even if it anticipated them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
All I could do—and all that thousands of other people nearby could do—was stand there, stare at the cloudless sky, and watch the towers burn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
How long can we all stare at hand-held rectangles?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
"You have to literally stay on duty and stare at the screen the whole time, because you can easily miss it," said Esko, who did not appear to struggle, even late into the night.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
I order a plate of biscuits and hash and then stare at them when they arrive, unable to remember the last time I ate in public, in a restaurant with other people.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
My objective is to use the existing comparisons to reexamine “Promising Young Woman,” try to understand Fennell’s intentions, and look at the bleak truths her movie stares straight in the face.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
One man stares silently at the floor, weakened by advanced liver disease and in urgent need of treatment.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
“Sometimes he just sits and stares into space,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Elsewhere in Washington, the now-defunct US Institute of Peace was renamed after Trump, and his face stares down from huge banners outside the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
She stares at me for another minute, like maybe there’s more explanation coming, but there is no explanation.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
“No matter how many daggers we stared at her, she was unfazed,” said Osada, a graphic designer and occasional live-music photographer who lives in Sunderland, England.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
In 2000, he stared alongside American actress Kathleen Turner in the West End production of The Graduate.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Instead, I picked around fish bones and stared at the mess I had made behind me.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
I lay on my back and stared at a bright blue painted sky, dappled with puffy clouds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Anna May stared down into her coffee cup.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Instead of everybody facing one direction staring at the DJ, Savage wants the environment to be about the ambiance, the music, and the people in the space, not just who’s playing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The president of the University of Oregon is still staring down budget cuts at the school, despite Knight’s $1 billion gift, the New York Times reported.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Why then can some people drink coffee before bed and sleep like a baby, while others lie awake staring at the ceiling?
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
That signals more pain at the pump for diesel buyers already staring down all-time highs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Often I would come to with a start at my workbench to realize that I had sat for an hour staring into space.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
