stargaze

To stargaze figuratively means to daydream, as in Staring at the whiteboard, Miguel was stargazing and didn’t hear anything the teacher said. 

Someone is said to be stargazing when they are staring at nothing, deep in thought. They may be staring out a window, out onto the horizon, or at something without really seeing it. 

Literally, to stargaze means to observe the stars. You might do this by going outside at night, away from lights, and just looking up at the stars. Some people stargaze as a hobby, meaning they track and observe patterns of the stars in the sky. They might use telescopes or binoculars or just their eyes. 

Stargaze is also used as an informal term for scientific research involving the solar system and outer space. By extension, sometimes astronomers, astronauts, and astrophysicists might be referred to as stargazers. 

Stargaze can also be used to mean to observe the stars in practicing astrology. 

Example: When Lauren is feeling sad and alone, she goes out to her backyard and stargazes for a bit.

The first records of the term stargaze come from around the 1620s. It is a back formation of the term stargazer, which is literally “a person who stares at the stars.” Stargazer can also refer to an astronomer, astrologer, or daydreamer.

What are some synonyms for stargaze?

• daydream
• fantasize
• hallucinate
• invent
• visualize

What are some words that share a root or word element with stargaze? 

• star
• gaze
• starflower
• starship
• starfish

What are some words that often get used in discussing stargaze?

• sky
• telescope
• dreamy

Stargaze is often used to mean “to daydream,” but it can also be used literally to mean “to look at the stars.”

I wanna drive far from the city and stargaze.

— Julia Kelly (@MissJuliaKelly) August 24, 2016

I’m redoing my balcony so I can stargaze… you down??

— indiana (@indiana) August 3, 2020

The to-do list for today:

🔲 Wake up and listen to #LMLY by @JacksonWang852
⬛️ Set reminders to breathe and unwind
⬛️ Listen to #TalkingToTheMoon by @BrunoMars and stargaze

— Warner Music Singapore (@WarnerMusicSG) April 23, 2021

Is stargaze used correctly in the following sentence?

“Jayden’s favorite summer activity is to camp on the beach and stargaze all night.”