Adjacent Words

Gawk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GAWK, n.
1. A cuckoo.
2. A fool; a simpleton. [In both senses, it is retained in Scotland.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an awkward stupid person [syn: lout, clod, stumblebum, goon, oaf, lubber, lummox, lump, gawk] v
1: look with amazement; look stupidly [syn: goggle, gape, gawp, gawk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: probably from English dialect gawk left-handed Date: 1757 a clumsy stupid person ; lout II. intransitive verb Etymology: perhaps alteration of obsolete gaw to stare Date: 1785 to gape or stare stupidly • gawker noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. colloq. stare stupidly. --n. an awkward or bashful person. Derivatives: gawkish adj. Etymology: rel. to obs. gaw gaze f. ON gá heed

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gawk Gawk, n. [OE. gok, gowk, cuckoo, fool, Icel. gaukr cuckoo; akin to OHG. gouh, G. gauch cuckoo, fool, AS. g['e]ac cuckoo, Sw. g["o]k, Dan. gi["o]g] 1. A cuckoo. --Johnson. 2. A simpleton; a booby; a gawky. --Carlyle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gawk Gawk, v. i. To act like a gawky.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gawks, gawking, gawked) To gawk at someone or something means to stare at them in a rude, stupid, or unthinking way. (INFORMAL) The youth continued to gawk at her and did not answer... Tens of thousands came to gawk. VERB: V at n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Clown, boor, booby, awkward simpleton, lout, bumpkin, gawky.

Moby Thesaurus

ass, be amazed, be astonished, be curious, blockhead, blunderer, blunderhead, boor, bore, botcher, bumbler, bumpkin, bungler, burn with curiosity, churl, clod, clodhopper, clodknocker, clot, clown, crane, crane the neck, dig around for, dig up, dolt, dunderhead, dunderpate, eye, fool, fumbler, galoot, gape, gaup, gawky, gaze, gaze open-mouthed, glare, gloat, goggle, gowk, hayseed, hick, ignoramus, inquire, interrogate, klutz, lobster, looby, look, lout, lubber, lug, lummox, lump, marvel, ninny, nose around for, nose out, oaf, ogle, ox, palooka, peer, query, question, quiz, rubber, rubberneck, rube, seek, simpleton, slouch, slubberer, stand aghast, stand on tiptoe, stare, stare at, stare down, stare hard, stare openmouthed, want to know, wonder, yokel