gazed; gazing; gazes
: to fix the eyes in a steady intent look often with eagerness or studious attention
gazed out the window at the snow
gazer
noun
plural gazers
plural gazes
1
: a fixed intent look
a steady gaze
He fixed his gaze out the window.
She lowered/dropped/raised her gaze.
I met his gaze. [=I looked back at him.]
2
: the collective preferences and expectations of a usually privileged social group especially when imposed as a standard or norm on other groups
In 1973, British feminist film writer Laura Mulvey wrote a seminal essay called "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", which explored how mainstream films appealed to a male gaze—a term she coined—because the industry was dominated by men who, inevitably, constructed representations of women from a masculine point of view.—
Kerrie O'Brien
Kerrie O'BrienSo few slots are available for nonwhite writers that those who break through are sometimes themselves charged with … exaggerating elements of their culture for a white gaze; living up to the image that white writers have created for them, the easier to be packaged and sold.—Ligaya Mishan
Ligaya MishanIt looks like a gentle scene of a seaside vacation. But this painting by Berthe Morisot, perhaps the most underrated Impressionist, is a layered vision of a dawning modern age and a rare glimpse at the 19th-century female gaze.—Natasha Frost
Natasha FrostSynonyms
Examples of gaze in a Sentence
Verb
He gazed out the window at the snow.
She gazed intently into his eyes.
Noun
She looked at him with a calm, steady gaze.
suddenly aware of her admiring gaze, he became self-conscious and uncomfortable
Recent Examples on the WebAdam Higginbotham, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024
Instead of reproducing the now-commonplace sights of the Holocaust, Glazer confines himself to this upwardly mobile home that shares a wall with Auschwitz, gazing with disdain upon the perfect flowers Rudolf’s wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) cultivates in her garden.
—TIME, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gaze 
Verb
Still gazing back toward the shuttle, McCandless at last reached his destination and brought the jetpack’s progress to a halt: some 320 feet out in space, 170 miles above the Atlantic—a human satellite in orbit, traveling at 23 times the speed of sound.
—Adam Higginbotham, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024
Instead of reproducing the now-commonplace sights of the Holocaust, Glazer confines himself to this upwardly mobile home that shares a wall with Auschwitz, gazing with disdain upon the perfect flowers Rudolf’s wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) cultivates in her garden.
—TIME, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gaze
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gaze.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near gaze
Cite this Entry
“Gaze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaze. Accessed 12 May. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share