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gazer

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A person who stares or looks fixedly. It is a literary word rather than a common everyday one.

Detailed Definition
Herbert uses 'gazer' for the person who looks too directly at the rose’s brightness. The word helps personify the observer and makes the flower’s beauty seem almost dangerous to the eye.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye” warns the careless observer; A gazer is one who looks, often with absorbed curiosity; “Star-gazers” can be scientific, romantic, or naïve; A modern line: “Each subway gazer saw their face in glass.”
Additional Notes
Although understandable from context, 'gazer' is a more literary noun than the ordinary words around it.; Found in the poem, Virtue by George Herbert
Also Known As
observer onlooker viewer spectator
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