What is the difference between gaze and stare

The owner of it will not be notified. Only the user who asked this question will see who disagreed with this answer. Read more comments. English US Spanish Mexico. Example: Don't stare at him! You can't say "Don't gaze at him! Here's an instance where "gaze" is appropriate but "stare" is not: gazing at the stars stargazing. But that might have become a set phrase only because "starstaring" looks really weird.

Brian: Four centuries ago when OE first records the usage I doubt anyone thought star-staring looks "weird" - let's use star-gazing instead. The reason one looks "normal" to you today, and the other looks "weird" is simply because you're familiar with the version that actually became established.

But I have to say using it as a full verb "He star-gazed last night" still sounds really weird to me. I can only really feel comfortable with it as a gerund. It doesn't sound weird, it just looks weird. Lisianthus Lee Lisianthus Lee 1. Hi, and welcome to ELL. Please take the tour and consider how you might improve your answer. Can you link to, or at least better identify, your reference? John Trusler instead of john trusler.

You might also like to edit to expand on what this adds to the existing answer. Featured on Meta. Hi, To stare is to look at something for a long time.

It can be neutral "She spent most of the journey staring out the window ", or can express dislike or surprise "When she entered the room her opponent stared at her coldly". To gaze is also to look at something for a long time, but it rarely has a negative connotation. It is often used when someone is looking at something that they love or admire. Clipper's definition is true, staring is on purpose, but gazing is ususally done without noticing often because you're so amazed or in love!

Muchas gracias. Me ha quedado claro. Thank you very much. It's much claerer now. Lagartija Senior Member Western Massachusetts. Stregata said:. Click to expand Gracias, creo que eso da bastante sentido a lo que tengo y a lo que estaba buscando.

Fano Senior Member London. Hey People!! How do you understand this verbs? What is the difference between them? I need the opinion of a native at least! Hi there. Unknown Monday, February 06, Anonymous Sunday, September 17, Unknown Saturday, November 03, Unknown Wednesday, April 24, Unknown Friday, May 10, Unknown Saturday, September 14,