Gawking
[gawk] /gɔk/
verb (used without object)
1.
to stare stupidly; gape:
The onlookers gawked at arriving celebrities.
noun
2.
an awkward, foolish person.
/ɡɔːk/
noun
1.
a clumsy stupid person; lout
verb
2.
(intransitive) to stare in a stupid way; gape
v.
1785, American English, perhaps from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen “to stare” (c.1200), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse ga “to heed,” from Proto-Germanic *gawon-, from PIE *ghow-e- “to honor, revere, worship” (see favor (n.)); and altered perhaps by gawk hand (see gawky). Liberman writes that it “need not have been derived from gowk. It is possibly another independent imitative formation with the structure g-k. Related: Gawked; gawking.
verb
To stare; gape stupidly: locals gathered to gawk at strange lights/ They went in and out of the garage to gawk at the body
[1785+; fr dialect gawk, gouk, ”fool, idiot,” literally ”cuckoo”]
Read Also:
- Gawkish
[gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]
- Gawkishness
[gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]
- Gawky
[gaw-kee] /ˈgɔ ki/ adjective, gawkier, gawkiest. 1. awkward; ungainly; clumsy. /ˈɡɔːkɪ/ adjective gawkier, gawkiest 1. clumsy or ungainly; awkward 2. (West Yorkshire, dialect) left-handed adj. “awkward, ungainly,” 1724, from gawk hand “left hand” (1703), perhaps a contraction of gaulick, thus “gaulish hand,” derogatory slang that could have originated during some period of strained Anglo-French relations, […]
- Gawp
[gawp] /gɔp/ verb (used without object), Chiefly Northern U.S. 1. to stare with the mouth open in wonder or astonishment; gape: Crowds stood gawping at the disabled ship. /ɡɔːp/ verb 1. (Brit, slang) (intransitive) often foll by at. to stare stupidly; gape n. “fool, simpleton,” 1825, perhaps from the verb meaning “to yawn, gape” (as […]
- Gawped
[gawp] /gɔp/ verb (used without object), Chiefly Northern U.S. 1. to stare with the mouth open in wonder or astonishment; gape: Crowds stood gawping at the disabled ship. /ɡɔːp/ verb 1. (Brit, slang) (intransitive) often foll by at. to stare stupidly; gape n. “fool, simpleton,” 1825, perhaps from the verb meaning “to yawn, gape” (as […]