stare

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a fixed look with eyes open wide
  2. verb look at with fixed eyes
  3. verb fixate one's eyes

Etymology

From Middle English staren, from Old English starian (“to stare”), from Proto-West Germanic *starēn, from Proto-Germanic *starjaną, *starāną (“to be fixed, be rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-. Cognate with Dutch staren (“to stare”), German starren (“to stare”), German starr (“stiff”). More at start.

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