rubberneck

Meaning

Noun

1. Someone who engages in rubbernecking, or turning and staring.
2. (US, obsolete) A tourist.
3. Someone or something with a flexible neck.

Verb

1. To watch by craning the neck (as though it were made of rubber), especially if the observer and observed are in motion relative to each other.
2. To cause (someone) to watch in fascinated horror, as if rubbernecking to see a roadside accident.

Synonyms

rubbernecker

gawk

gape

sightseer

tripper

excursionist

ogle

holidaymaker

inquisitive

looker-on

nitwitted

nosey

nosy

ogler

onlooker

simp

simpleton

soft headed

stand gaping

stupid

tinker

gawk at

tourer

tourist

twit

viewer

witless

gawp

simperer

bystander

spectater

curious

farer

gaper

gawker

gazer

goggle

Translations

Gaffer

turista

ficar boquiaberto

anglotzen

dom kijken

embasbacar-se

badar

badauder

aangapen

curioso

السائح

Schaulustiger

gaffen

gapen

mirón

Etymology

From rubber + neck. Coined in the sense of "tourist" in the United States in the late 19th century. A favored Americanism of H.L. Mencken.