gazingstock means an object, event or person that is stared at by many people; a spectacle. It carries an Arena rating of 1607, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gazingstock ranks #1,908 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #2,120 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,882 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #4,702 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
Why “gazingstock” is a great word
An object or person subjected to the intense, sustained scrutiny of a public gaze, often with derision or morbid fascination. From the verb 'gaze' (to look steadily) + 'stock' (in the sense of a post, stump, or something fixed and exposed to view). Unlike 'spectacle,' which suggests a grand or dramatic event, or 'pariah,' which denotes an outcast's status, a gazingstock is defined by its passive, pinned position under collective observation. It is the prisoner in the stocks, the oddity displayed at a fair, the family on the street whose misfortune has drawn a silent crowd—a testament to the quiet violence of being made wholly an object for others.
Etymology
From gazing + stock.
noun
- An object, event or person that is stared at by many people; a spectacle.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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