stare
Americanverb (used without object)
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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
-
staring
present participle
-
to stare at.
to stare a person up and down.
-
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
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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:
"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
If they stare at me blankly, I’m out.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Watching Banderas’ chef stare at the Atlantic, it may occur to you that a cook can no longer afford a waterfront shack on the sand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Some stare blankly into space, others check their phones, reading the news or answering messages.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
The man in the red jacket with the icy stare comes back to me.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Nanos spent Saturday afternoon watching the undefeated University of Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team pummel the Oklahoma State Cowboys, ignoring the stares and iPhones pointed his way from people in the crowd.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
But credit Neill for both understanding the assignment and not quite settling for those awed stares of Spielbergian wonder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The tension here is palpable, as she stares at the viewer through the screen as if cast out of her home by Schuyler’s physical and emotional presence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 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
When she arrives at the door, she stares at the number in front of her.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Elsewhere in Washington, the now-defunct US Institute of Peace was also renamed after Trump, and his face has stared down from huge banners hung outside the Justice and Agriculture Departments.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
As he stared at the black stone that AlphaGo dropped on the board, Sedol saw a move that no professional Go player would have made.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The Brit has stared down near-certain elimination in multiple matches, repeatedly breaking his opponents’ momentum with Houdini-like on-court acts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Later that year, he twice froze during press conferences, stared into space, and had to be assisted.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
Cam stared at her, nodding foolishly, as if it was that obvious.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The danger comes because staring at an eclipse without protection can damage the retina, which sits at the back of the eye, and particularly those cells responsible for sharp central vision.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
I was staring at my 61-year-old reflection as I repeated these mantras suggested by my new therapist SuzAnn, embarrassed at the idiocy although I lived alone in a small West L.A. guesthouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“What is that?” he said, holding a corner of the comforter aloft, staring intently at something located where he had been about to lie down.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
To get buy-in, he showed the leadership team a video of staffers working with the old technology, stuck staring at a spinning wheel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
I stood there, staring at her, tasting the salt of the tears running down my face.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
