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stare

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Look at with fixed eyes.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stehr
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɛɹ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Look at with fixed eyes

    “The students stared at the teacher with amazement.”

  2. intransitivefollowed by "at"

    To look fixedly (at something).

  3. transitive

    To influence in some way by looking fixedly.

  4. intransitive

    To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, colour, or brilliancy.

noun

  1. A rural settlement in Kadiivka urban hromada, Alchevsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, founded in 1930, controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic since 2014.

  2. A persistent gaze.

  3. Fredrick John Stare (1910–2002), American nutritionist

  4. Ward Stare (born 1982), American conductor

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Look at with fixed eyes

Used this way, stare is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The students stared at the teacher with amazement.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stare

  • “The students stared at the teacher with amazement.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

blank starestare backstare straightstare through

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • starshipnounDerived noun · specialist

    A spacecraft designed to carry a crew into interstellar space (especially in science fiction).

  • stardomnounDerived noun · specialist

    The status of being acknowledged as a star.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • stare downverbCompound term

    Overcome or cause to waver or submit by (or as if by) staring.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.