i Register
In some senses, stare is marked as obsolete, archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.
ADV
fixedly, hard, intently, unblinkingly
The child stared fixedly at the colorful birds outside the window for several minutes.
steadily | impassively
absently, blankly, blearily, blindly, dully, sightlessly, uncomprehendingly, unseeingly, vacantly
After the long meeting, he stared vacantly out the window, lost in his own thoughts.
dazedly, disbelievingly, incredulously, open-mouthed, wide-eyed, wildly
She stared dazedly at the exam results, wondering if she had read them correctly.
bleakly, gloomily, glumly, grimly, helplessly, hopelessly, morosely
She stared glumly out the window, waiting for the bus that was already twenty minutes late.
coldly, coolly, defiantly, fiercely, moodily, stonily
The angry customer stared coldly at the waiter without saying a word.
curiously, quizzically, suspiciously, thoughtfully | silently, wordlessly | just, merely, simply
(for) a moment
She stared at the painting for a moment before moving on to the next room.
still
Sarah sat quietly in the waiting room, still staring at her phone screen.
across, around/round, back, down, out, (straight) ahead, up
The old man stared down at the photograph in his trembling hands.
VERB + STARE
can/could only
When the accident happened, he could only stare in shock and disbelief.
seem to | continue to
turn to
When the child started crying, all the other passengers turned to stare.
pause to, stop to
PREP
across, after
He couldn't help staring across the room at the famous actor sitting in the corner.
around/round, at, in
She stared at the exam paper for several minutes before writing her first answer.
into, out of, through, with
The child stared out of the window watching the snow fall.
PHRASES
sit/stand staring, stand/stop and stare
She sat staring out the window for hours after hearing the bad news.
stare into space
During the boring lecture, he stared into space and thought about his weekend plans.