Word.ws English Dictionary

staring

UK/ˈstɛəɹɪŋ//ˈstɛɹɪŋ/

staring is the present participle and gerund of stare.

Adjective

staring (comparative more staring, superlative most staring)

  1. Shining; vivid, garish.
  2. Looking fixedly with wide-open eyes.
  3. (obsolete) Sensational, lurid.
    • “I fear, with regard to the world in general, she is utterly incorrigible, because it has neither pleasure nor advantage to offer, that can compensate for the deprivation of relating one staring story, or ridiculous anecdote.”1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.vi.8

Meaning of stare

Verb

stare (third-person singular simple present stares, present participle staring, simple past and past participle stared)

  1. (intransitive) To look fixedly (at something).
    • She found him staring with raised eyebrows at her.
  2. (transitive) To influence in some way by looking fixedly.
    • to stare a timid person into submission
  3. (intransitive) To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, colour, or brilliancy.
    • staring windows or colours
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To stand out; to project; to bristle.
    • Makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

See all 15 meanings of stare

Noun

staring (plural starings)

  1. The act of one who stares.
    • Near-synonym: gazing
    • Then the bewilderingness of the old starings of the solitary old man and old woman, by the cracked hearth-stone of the desolate old house, in the desolate, round, open space[…]1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or, The Ambiguities
    Synonyms:
    gazing
    Antonyms:
    glancing, peeking

Proper noun capitalized: Staring

Staring

  1. A surname.

Synonyms of staring

Antonyms

Forms of staring

Noun
pluralstarings
Adjective
comparativemore staring
superlativemost staring

Words formed from staring

Phrases with staring

Words that rhyme with staring

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about staring

What does staring mean?
Staring means the act of one who stares.
What is staring the present participle and gerund of?
Staring is the present participle and gerund of stare.
What part of speech is staring?
Staring can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce staring?
Staring is pronounced /ˈstɛəɹɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of staring?
The plural of staring is starings.

Words near staring in the dictionary

  1. Stari Mikanovci
  2. starier
  3. stariest
  4. starigraphic
  5. starin'
  6. staring
  7. staring contest
  8. staring contests
  9. staring daggers
  10. staring down
  11. staring into space

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: staring (page history and authors); Staring (page history and authors); stare (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-staring.ogg.

Cite this entry: “staring.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/staring. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.