85:, with one being a rote activity and the other requiring a conscious and thoughtful effort to understand what is being seen or heard. Because of the breadth and flexibility of both words, different authors may reverse the relationship in contrasting them, with one suggesting that a person can "look at" something without truly "seeing" it, while another might suggest that a person might be "seeing" something, but not truly "look at" it. Both arrangements suggest that the person is directing their vision towards the thing, but failing to give sufficient attention to notice specific characteristics or implications of what is in the visual field.
77:"Looking" and "seeing" are traditionally contrasted in a number of ways, although their usage often overlaps. Looking can be characterized as "the action precedent to seeing". Any kind of looking or viewing actually implies "seeing" certain things within the range of view, while not "seeing" others, because they are unimportant at the moment. Thus, things that are within the range of view, but which are unimportant to the viewer, may be treated by the brain as if they are transparent, by being looked over, past, and around. The distinction between "looking" and "seeing" has been compared to the distinction between
162:
176:"Glancing" and "glimpsing" are terms that imply looking at things in a subtle way, or seeing things very briefly before they move out of the range of vision. Although the two are often confused, a glance is more commonly a quick movement of the eye, whereas a glimpse is more often a result of the object being watched quickly moving out of sight. "Scanning" suggests quickly looking over an area "to get a general impression", accomplished "by rapidly noting one point after another".
27:
118:" has historically implied intensity, but not aggressiveness, and may imply "wonder, fascination, awe, or admiration". In the twentieth century, however, sociologists began to use the term to suggest a power relationship between the person who is gazing and the subject of the gaze, with the former exercising an ability to define the latter. By contrast,
60:
exist to describe variations of looking at things, with prominent examples including the verbs "stare, gaze, gape, gawp, gawk, goggle, glare, glimpse, glance, peek, peep, peer, squint, leer, gloat, and ogle". Additional terms with nuanced meanings include viewing, watching, eyeing, observing,
229:— a tailor who spied on Godiva as she rode naked through her town to protest taxation — and subsequently was punished. Peeping "is in close relation to 'Peeking' — one peeps typically at sexual matters and 'peeks' when one wants surreptitiously to know what something is without being seen".
221:"Peeking" and "peeping" suggest looking at something that one is not supposed to be looking at, and doing so in a way that is intended to hide the fact that the person doing the peeking or peeping is looking. There is "an illegitimacy associated with peeping". An aspect of the story of
471:(2021), p. 9: "'Non-verbal form' is in the form of facial expressions, gestures and actions such as staring, leering, making sexual gestures and whistling are also commonly experienced which are often tolerated silently by the victims without reporting".
137:
about the thing being observed without necessarily either judging it or interfering with it. "Watching" implies a similar prolonged focus, but can also imply looking at something in a distracted or absentminded manner, such as watching television.
141:"Gaping" and "gawking" also indicate prolonged acts of looking, but suggest that the person doing the looking is so mentally distracted by the subject being observed that they become unaware of their own conduct. At the extreme,
37:. The central figure (the conjurer) looks forward, steadily, intently, and with fixed attention. While other figures observe objects within the painting, and the woman in green appears to observe the viewer.
65:, and a psychological act of interpreting what is seen and choosing whether to continue looking at it, or to look elsewhere. Where more than one person is involved, looking may lead to
114:" is an intense form of looking in which the eyes of the person looking remain fixed on the subject for an extended period, and is generally considered rude. "
404:; hearing but not listening; speaking but not communicating; touching but not feeling; smelling but not detecting. In many ways our senses play tricks on us".
145:
is the physical act of craning one's neck, performed in order to get a better view, and has been described as a human trait that is associated with morbid
107:
A number of troponyms exist to illustrate kinds of looking that are either intentionally or unconsciously done in intense, pronounced, or prolonged ways.
149:. "Ogling" is an "impertinent" form of staring "often in a way that indicates improper interest". Another synonym, "leering", is often used to imply
173:
A number of troponyms exist to illustrate kinds of looking that are either intentionally or unconsciously done in a quick, subtle, or hidden way.
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does suggest aggressiveness and confrontation. "Eyeing" implies looking at something with some feeling involved, such as desire or wariness.
434:(2005), p. 277: "Apart from the actual presence of the sensation, perception is markedly deficient or totally absent, the idiot
546:
521:
260:
Anne Poch
Higueras and Isabel Verdaguer Clavera, "The rise of new meanings: A historical journey through English ways of
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between those doing the looking, which raises further implications for the relationship established through that act.
511:
206:, and as a verb in 1779, although it was originally associated with seeing bright or shiny things. Playwright
356:
The Vision
Revolution: How the Latest Research Overturns Everything We Thought We Knew About Human Vision
627:
129:" implies looking at a specific object or area for a prolonged period specifically for purposes of
438:, hears but does not listen, and feels touch and pain but does not refer them in space and time".
161:
266:
A Changing World of Words: Studies in
English Historical Lexicography, Lexicology and Semantics
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Illustration from the
Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk", in
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Tracy B. Strong, "On
Religion and the Strangeness of Speech", in Corey McCall, Tom Nurmi,
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Synonyms
Discriminated: A Complete Catalogue of Synonymous Words in the English Language
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beholding, and scanning. Looking is both a physical act of directing the focus of the
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207:
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45:
455:— contrary to the popular belief that schizophrenics do not see their surroundings".
30:
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200:
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142:
469:
Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplaces: Mental Health and Social Aspects
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Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages: Sight, Spectacle, and Scopic
Economy
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I See a Voice: Deafness, Language and the Senses--A Philosophical
History
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130:
126:
102:
66:
49:
195:, and was first recorded as appearing with its current meaning in 1582.
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16:
Act of intentionally focusing visual perception on someone or something
539:
Politics and Film: The
Political Culture of Film in the United States
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82:
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169:, March 1893, original captioned "Glancing at the haggard figure".
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510:
Partridge, Eric; Beale, Paul (1994). Fergusson, Rosalind (ed.).
417:(2015), p. 35: " Elkins bemoans the tendency to not look, to
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133:, with the purpose of looking specifically being to obtain
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415:
On Not Looking: The Paradox of Contemporary Visual Culture
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On Not Looking: The Paradox of Contemporary Visual Culture
199:
appeared as a noun with its current meaning in 1580, from
192:
48:
on someone or something, for the purpose of obtaining
541:. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 96.
451:(1983), p. 82: "In simple terms, the schizophrenic
191:, a reference to the quick movement of slipping on
583:Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning
89:Looking in intense, pronounced, or prolonged ways
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498:Aggression: Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment
398:Innovative Methodologies in Enterprise Research
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421:, and in its place proposes ways of looking".
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449:Eye Language: Understanding the Eloquent Eye
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56:or another sentiment. A large number of
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485:The Right Word III: A Concise Thesaurus
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180:appeared as a word prior to 1450, from
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44:is the act of intentionally focusing
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516:. London: Routledge. p. 178.
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268:, Volume 141 (2002), p. 563-572.
264:", in Javier E. Díaz Vera, ed.,
599:Melville among the Philosophers
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303:Sounds: The Ambient Humanities
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396:, Damian Hine, David Carson,
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537:Franklin, Daniel P. (2006).
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283:Madeline Harrison Caviness
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18:
52:, and possibly to convey
513:Shorter Slang Dictionary
19:For the TV series, see
453:sees but does not look
436:sees but does not look
402:Looking but not seeing
170:
38:
164:
73:Looking versus seeing
29:
325:Charles John Smith,
483:Pamela B. DeVinne,
419:look without seeing
239:Watching-eye effect
167:The Strand Magazine
21:Looking (TV series)
329:(1871), p. 100-01.
210:was fond of using
171:
39:
628:Visual perception
585:(2009), p. 84-85.
563:Sexual Harassment
548:978-0-7425-3808-5
523:978-0-415-08866-4
151:sexual harassment
46:visual perception
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500:(2003), p. 98.
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487:(1990), p. 88.
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467:R. C. Jiloha,
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430:R. G. Gordon,
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384:(2015), p. 35.
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371:(1999). p. 52.
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289:(2001), p. 18.
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201:Middle English
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618:Observation
432:Personality
227:Peeping Tom
223:Lady Godiva
135:information
131:observation
103:Observation
67:eye contact
50:information
612:Categories
262:looking at
245:References
182:Old French
394:See, e.g.
147:curiosity
127:Observing
83:listening
58:troponyms
233:See also
54:interest
204:glimsen
197:Glimpse
189:glacier
120:glaring
112:Staring
95:Staring
79:hearing
42:Looking
623:Vision
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212:glance
185:glacer
178:Glance
116:Gazing
101:, and
214:as a
543:ISBN
518:ISBN
99:Gaze
81:and
63:eyes
225:is
193:ice
187:or
33:'s
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23:.
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