gawk
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡɔːk/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɡɑk/
- Rhymes: -ɔːk
Etymology 1
From a variant of gowk, from Middle English gowke, goke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”). Cognate with Danish gøg, Swedish gök, German Gauch, Old English ġēac.
Compare also French gauche, and English gawky and gallock.
Noun
gawk (plural gawks)
- A cuckoo.
- A fool; a simpleton; a stupid or clumsy person.
- 1855, Thomas Carlyle, The Prinzenraub, Westminster Review:
- A Duke of Weissenfels, for instance; foolish old gawk, whom Wilhehnina Princess Royal recollects for his distracted notions, — which were well shaken out of him by Wilhelmina's Brother afterwards.
Derived terms
Translations
stupid or clumsy person
Etymology 2
Perhaps from English dialectal gaw (“to stare; gawk”) + -k, as in talk, stalk, etc., ultimately from Old Norse gá (“to heed”).[1]
Verb
gawk (third-person singular simple present gawks, present participle gawking, simple past and past participle gawked)
- To stare or gape stupidly.
- To stare conspicuously.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stare
- (colloquial, vulgar) To suck.
Derived terms
Translations
to stare or gape stupidly
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References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “gawk”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
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