- (intransitive) often followed by at: to look or gaze fixedly, often with hostility or rudeness
- (intransitive) to stand out as obvious; glare
- stare one in the face ⇒ to be glaringly obvious or imminent
- the act or an instance of staring
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
stare /stɛr/USA pronunciation
v., stared, star•ing, n.
v.
n. [countable]
star•er, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to gaze or look at deeply, intently, etc., esp. with the eyes wide open: [~ + at + object]He stared at her for a long time.[no object]Don't stare; it's rude.[~ + object]The police officer stared the gang into silence. He stared her up and down.
- stare down, to cause to be nervous or uncomfortable by looking at (someone) deeply, for a long time, etc., esp. with the eyes wide open: [~ + object + down]The mob was ready to riot, but the sheriff managed to stare them down.[~ + down + object]I've seen him stare down a whole gang.
n. [countable]
- a staring gaze;
a fixed look with the eyes wide open.
- Idioms stare someone in the face, [~ + object + in the face]
- to be urgent or impending, as a deadline:The deadline was staring him in the face.
- to be very obvious, as an answer or solution:The answer is staring you right in the face.
star•er, n. [countable]
- The verb stare most often takes the preposition at after it:She stared at the man with the gun.In this way it is similar to verbs like look and glance, but it is different from see, which takes no preposition.
stare (stâr),USA pronunciation
v., stared, star•ing, n.
v.i.
v.t.
n.
star′er, n.
star′ing•ly, adv.
v.i.
- to gaze fixedly and intently, esp. with the eyes wide open.
- to be boldly or obtrusively conspicuous:The bright modern painting stares out at you in the otherwise conservative gallery.
- (of hair, feathers, etc.) to stand on end;
bristle.
v.t.
- to stare at:to stare a person up and down.
- to effect or have a certain effect on by staring:to stare one out of countenance.
- stare down, to cause to become uncomfortable by gazing steadily at one;
overcome by staring:A nonsmoker at the next table tried to stare me down. - stare one in the face, to be urgent or impending;
confront:The income-tax deadline is staring us in the face.
n.
- a staring gaze;
a fixed look with the eyes wide open:The banker greeted him with a glassy stare.
- bef. 900; Middle English staren, Old English starian; cognate with Dutch staren, German starren, Old Norse stara; akin to stark, starve
star′ing•ly, adv.
- 1. See gaze.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
stare /stɛə/ vb
'staring' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
crystal gazing
- eye dog
- glowering
- goggle-eyed
- popeyed
- stare
- walleye
- agaze
- beady-eyed
- boorish
- glaring
- glassy-eyed
- goggle
- hypnotize
- outface
- outstare
- walleyed