Gaze Meaning
/ɡeɪz/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo stare intently or earnestly.
verbTo stare at.
Sentence Examples
I kept gazing at her until she, totally confused, dropped her gaze.
Her cool gaze made my heart skip a beat.
She held his gaze for a moment before looking away.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He stood still and began to ____ at the stars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could not help but ____ at the beautiful sunset as the colors faded from the clear evening sky.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gasen; akin to Swedish dialectal gasa and Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan, “to terrify”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?"
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 1:11:
"Gerty MacDowell who was seated near her companions, lost in thought, gazing far away into the distance was, in very truth, as fair a specimen of winsome Irish girlhood as one could wish to see."
— 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
"She just sat there very straight, gazing across the moon-washed garden."
— 1936, F.J. Thwaites, The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards Publishing, published 1940, page 64:
"In fact, for Antonioni this gazing is probably the most fundamental of all cognitive activities[.]"
— 1998, Michelangelo Antonioni, Unfinished Business: Screenplays, Scenerios, and Ideas, page xv:
"Strait toward Heav'n my wondring Eyes I turnd, / And gaz'd a while the ample Skie"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He stood still and began to ____ at the stars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could not help but ____ at the beautiful sunset as the colors faded from the clear evening sky.