agape

comparative more agape · superlative most agape

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.

   There I stand, agape like any country bumpkin

   1923, Arthur Michael Samuel, “Roubiliac (1695-1762)”, in The Mancroft essays, page 159

   3 more examples

   […] in himself was all his state, More solemn then the tedious pomp that waits On Princes, when thir rich Retinue long Of Horses led, and Grooms besmeard with Gold Dazles the croud, and sets them all agape.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, London, Book 5, lines 353-357

   That's all well and good; one can sit, agape, reading the copious liner notes to this or any Explorer record, but it's what's inside the jacket that counts.

   1980, Joel Flegler, Fanfare, volume 3, numbers 4-6, page 198

   The restaurant staff and OTHER DINNER GUESTS watch, agape.

   1996, Lech J. Majewski with Julian Schnabel, Basquiat

   Synonyms: open-mouthed, dumbstruck, wide-eyed, agog, catching flies

2. Wide open.

   In the last frame, he throws back his head and wails, his mouth agape.

   1995 September 24, “Stop Me If Yov've Heard this One”, in Washington Post

   5 more examples

   With his mouth agape and his hands clenched, Rufus Dawes, incapable of further speech, made a last effort to nod assent, but his head fell upon his breast; the next moment, the flickering light, the gloomy prison, the eager face of the doctor, and the astonished face of Vickers, vanished from before his straining eyes.

   1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter VIII, in For the Term of His Natural Life

   He tries not to tear his victim's stockings, or whip too close to her stretched vulva, which shivers, unprotected, between thighs agape and straining, amid movements of muscle erotic, subdued, “monumental” as any silver memory of her body on film.

   1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

   With dropped jaws and eyes agape, a world beholds the blur of Michael Johnson

   1996 August 2, “Johnson can fly, and he does it without wings”, in Chicago Sun-Times

   If the slightly agape mouth is closed prior to mouth opening, this is termed the preparatory phase and is more common in suction-feeding bony fishes than elasmobranchs.

   2004, Jeffrey C. Carrier, John A. Musick, Michael R. Heithaus, Biology of Sharks and their Relatives, page 171

   Mouths were agape on the announcement of England’s starting lineup, the return of Keira Walsh appearing miraculous 10 days after she left the pitch on a stretcher in agony.

   2023 August 7, Suzanne Wrack, “England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: agog, catching flies

comparative more agape · superlative most agape

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention.

   "This is Sammy 91," he told the two dozen tourists watching agape."

   2005 September 24, “Angry Surfers Say Cage-Diving Changes Great White's Way”, in Wall Street Journal

   2 more examples

   Three of us--two biologists and I--were crouched behind a huge boulder at the water's edge and staring agape as the largest bear I ever saw came toward us

   1987 June 26, “On the Prowl in Grizzly Country”, in Chicago Tribune

   One features a science teacher looking agape at the camera which has caught him reading red-handed.

   2008 January 8, “Reading gets the glitzy treatment”, in BBC News

2. Open wide.

   Its mouth yawned agape

   1911 January 7, “The Man-killer”, in Poverty Bay Herald

   2 more examples

   The bathroom door stood agape, and the peeling vinyl floor was bare.

   1996, Perri O'Shaughnessy, Invasion of Privacy, page 508

   He glanced up into Richard's eyes, his own wide with wonder, his mouth hanging agape.

   2005, Terry Goodkind, Chainfire, page 427

plural agapae · plural agapai

1. uncountableChristianityThe love of God for mankind, or the benevolent love of Christians for others.

   Synonyms: charity

2. uncountableSpiritual, altruistic, beneficial love which wills good for others.
3. countableA love feast, especially one held in the early Christian Church in connection with the Eucharist.