Meanings
- uncountableThe act of slowing down while driving a vehicle, in order to see the scene of an accident.
"The resulting wreckage blocks the entire southbound side of the Interstate, while the inevitable rubbernecking slows traffic on the northbound side to little more than the speed of a brisk walk."
2004, Robert G. Ferrell, Tangent: A Novel, →ISBN, page 131 - uncountableGenerally, any act of observation in a manner considered unduly overt or otherwise unseemly.
The children had never been in such a large museum and their rubbernecking was rather amusing.
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of rubberneck
"Kids all up and down the Triboro corridors are staring, I can sense it. Why are they rubbernecking, what are they staring at?"
2006, Jack Myers, Row House Blues, →ISBN, page 339
Origin
Translations
Dutch ramptoerisme
- ramptoerismeunseemly act of observation
French faire le badaud
- faire le badaudslowing down to see the scene of an accident
German Gaffen, Gaffen
- Gaffenslowing down to see the scene of an accident
- Gaffenunseemly act of observation
- Spannenunseemly act of observation
Spanish curiosear, cotilleo
- curiosearslowing down to see the scene of an accident
- cotilleounseemly act of observation
Cite this entry
rubbernecking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubbernecking
“rubbernecking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubbernecking. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rubbernecking,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubbernecking.
Source: rubbernecking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.