13 Powerful Verbs to Use for “Look” in English | Speak with Impact

When was the last time you very quietly,

very secretly (with no one watching),

danced in your seat and flipped your hair out of pride because

you just had a conversation in English where you said precisely what you wanted

to say. You chose words that we're powerful,

that had impact and that were descriptive. For example,

rather than say,

I'm feeling really tired in response to a question about how you're doing,

you said, I'm exhausted. I'm overtaxed,

I'm overstressed. I'm dead on my feet tired,

and that was precisely what you wanted to say.

This feeling or this experience of secretly dancing in your seat

is something we've been talking a lot about in the Confident Women Community

because it's an experience our members have regularly.

This is a result of having expansive vocabulary and there

are several ways that you can broaden your vocabulary.

I want you to have that same experience,

even if no one ever knows that you're quietly thrilled,

you're having a little party inside because you said what you wanted to say.

So when it comes to learning and remembering advanced level vocabulary,

that is powerful. There are a few different ways you can do that,

including learning vocabulary and context.

That means listening to podcasts, interviews, reading books,

and discovering idioms or collocations and the way that they are meant

to be used on that particular topic.

This is one of our primary vocabulary building strategies inside our Confident

Women Community.

Another way to do that is to take common words in English and

explore their synonyms,

particularly synonyms that have that more powerful impact.

That's exactly what we're going to do today. In this lesson,

we're going to explore 13 powerful alternatives to the

verb look in English.

But before we get started, if you don't already know,

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.

Everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your

life and work in English no matter how shy,

nervous or stuck you might be feeling right now.

One way I do that is with my weekly Confident English lessons where I share my

top fluency and confidence building strategies,

targeted grammar and advanced level vocabulary just like in this

lesson today. So while you're here,

make sure you subscribe to my Speak Confident English channel on YouTube so you

never miss one of my Confident English lessons. Now,

here's what's really cool about broadening your vocabulary in English.

Knowing how and when to use specific verbs that are

synonymous allows you to be more concise,

more expressive, and more impactful When you share your thoughts in English.

In other words,

your listener will be able to create a visual mental picture while listening to

you speak. Let's look at a quick example that truly illustrates this.

First we have this sentence with the verb. Look,

Merla couldn't help but smile as the interviewer looked at her after

listening to her answer.

Compare that sentence to Merla couldn't help but smile

as the interviewer gawked at her after listening to her answer.

To gawk means to stare at someone openly

with wide eyes as if stunned or shocked.

It is a very specific way to look at someone and

when we compare these two sentences using the word gawk,

totally transforms this story.

Rather than a mental picture of an interviewer, simply looking at someone,

you have a mental picture of an interviewer staring with eyes wide

open, stunned, and now you're very curious,

What on earth happened in that discussion that made the

interviewer gawk?

This is the power and impact of expanding your vocabulary.

So let's get right to it.

To help organize these 13 powerful alternatives to the verb

look and English, I've divided this lesson up into three different categories.

Category number one,

verbs that specify an extended and attentive look.

When you look at something or someone for a longer period of time and with

focus, here are six alternative verbs.

You can choose from the first one to scrutinize.

Let me give you an example sentence first and then we'll talk about its meaning.

Lena scrutinized the fine print of the job offer before agreeing to

the position.

To scrutinize means to examine something carefully,

thoroughly.

It's like looking at something under a microscope and looking

for anything that might be wrong.

So if Lena is scrutinizing the job offer,

she is reading it word for word for word very carefully.

A second verb option is to gape.

David gaped as he watched his two year old son eat an entire

chocolate cake by the handful. How would you look at someone?

What expression would you have on your face if you watched a two year old eat an

entire chocolate cake with his hands?

You would gaze at someone with wide eyes and a wide mouth

in surprise shock or wonder.

That's exactly what it means to gape. The third one,

to eyeball something or to eyeball someone,

This means to look at someone or something very closely.

For example,

Lena could see her dog was eyeballing the food on her plate,

so she gave him some.

The fourth option in this category of verbs we use to talk about looking at

something for an extended period of time and with focus is to

observe. Of course, to observe means to watch carefully.

However,

it also has this sense that you're watching carefully because you want

to pay attention to the details or you want to pay attention

to someone's behavior. For example,

as an interior designer, as she watched the series,

Bridgerton Lena observed the Victorian style decor.

The fifth verb on our list is to examine,

and this is a little bit of a blend between observe and to

scrutinize. Similar to the verb observe,

it means to look at something closely or to inspect it carefully.

However,

it doesn't have that same sense that you're looking for errors or you're looking

for something wrong.

You're simply looking at something or inspecting it carefully.

For example, as every accountant knows,

it's important to examine financial records carefully.

And the last one for this category is to gaze.

Let me start with an example sentence to see if you can identify the

feeling of this word.

Ella gazed at her daughter as she watched her paint and sing to herself.

What do you imagine there? How might a mother or a grandmother,

an aunt look at a young child as she sits at a table painting and

singing to herself?

To gaze means to fix your eyes on someone or something

and to look at it with pleasant observation.

It's a moment that you enjoy and you are fully attentive in that

moment. If we explore these six, six verbs a bit more closely,

we'll find that although they are all synonyms,

what is different is the intent. In other words,

the reason for looking at someone or something is slightly different

with each of these verbs. When we use the verb look in English,

we're simply talking about where our line of sight might

be what we're focusing on.

But when that attention or focus is purposefully

intensified,

verbs such as observe or scrutinize are far more powerful and

more descriptive.

In each of the example sentences I shared with you,

we could replace the verbs we used with look,

but doing so does not suffice as an equal replacement.

Those six verbs are far more powerful and impactful.

With that, let's go on to category number two.

Verbs that specify a reactive look. In English,

when we use the verb look in a sentence,

it doesn't express the emotion behind an intentional eye

movement. In other words, sometimes when we look at someone or something,

we're doing it as an emotional response,

and here are five great verbs to use as an alternative.

First to squint,

Jennifer forgot her glasses and she squinted to read the words.

A second option to side eye.

She couldn't help but side eye her son as he joked about her

aging. Number three to glare,

Ella glared at her dog when she realized he had chewed up all her shoes.

Number four to gawk. We heard this verb earlier,

Ella gawked in disbelief when she found out she got the job.

And number five, to ogle. To ogle someone.

They all giggled when they noticed Lena ogling the lead actor in

Bridgerton. Now that we have these verbs with example sentences,

let's talk a little bit about the differences among them. And again,

it all comes down to a reaction to a specific emotion or even

need. Let's revisit the first example sentence.

Jennifer forgot her glasses and she squinted to read The words.

To squint is a response to how we look at something for

clarity.

If we side eye someone because they're joking about how we're

aging,

we're probably looking at them in a way that signifies disapproval

to glare as a way to look at someone and express anger or frustration.

We highlighted earlier that to gawk at someone means to stare

openly out of surprise or shock. And finally,

to ogle someone is to look at them in a way that expresses desire.

Just like with the verbs and category number one,

we could replace every single one of these verbs with the verb

look, but it would lose that power,

that descriptive impact. And now category number three,

verbs that specify a brief look. For example,

the verb to glance to glance means to look at something very quickly.

For example,

Sarah glanced down at her notes while she was giving a presentation.

You'll also hear this verb at work quite a bit. You might hear a colleague ask,

Can you glance over this?

They might be asking you to quickly review an email or a proposal.

They just want someone else to give it a review and to make sure that

everything's okay.

Similar to the verb glance is to give something a once over.

This means to quickly examine or to quickly review something.

For example,

she gave her presentation notes a once over just before going

on stage.

You've just learned 13 powerful alternatives to the verb look in

English. And before we get to practicing them,

let's talk a little bit about some mistakes to avoid or how to conquer

fears using this new vocabulary.

When learning synonyms, there are certainly some challenges.

For example,

it's possible to mix up some of the words you wouldn't want

to mix up. For example, to ogle,

which means to look at someone with desire versus to scrutinize,

which means to look at something very carefully.

The solution to avoiding that kind of confusion or mix up

is to learn these verbs in context.

Look at the example sentences provided and look at additional

example sentences that you can find online or listen to how people around you

use those verbs,

scrutinize the examples that you find.

The reason learning these words and context is helpful is

when you see them used in an appropriate sentence.

It should give you a visual picture in your mind and you can begin to associate

that visual picture with the word.

The second challenge with synonyms is the fear of

inaccuracy. When you try using them in conversation once again,

the solution is to find multiple examples of how that particular

verb is used in context to sharpen that mental picture you have

and it will help you create your own example sentences.

Once you've identified a verb you want to add to your vocabulary,

try using it in a few of your own sentences. If you want,

you could ask others around you who you trust for feedback.

For example,

we do this often in the Confident Women Community members will try out new

vocabulary and get input from others they trust to make sure

that word is being used correctly. So whether it's a coworker,

a friend, or a family member,

try using some of that vocabulary and get feedback to make sure you're using it

exactly as it should be used. Now,

you can also try sharing your examples here. As always,

I would love for you to practice choose one or two of your favorite

new verbs from this list.

Look carefully or scrutinize the examples I've provided,

and then try using that verb in your own example.

You can share it directly in the comments below. With that,

thank you so much for joining me. If you found this lesson useful,

I would love to know and you can tell me in one super simple way.

Give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube, and while you're at it,

don't forget to subscribe as well. Once again,

thanks for joining me and I'll see you next time.