Alternative forms

• kucken (reflecting the common pronunciation, but less frequent in writing)

Etymology

From Middle High GermanCategory:German terms inherited from Middle High German#GUCKENCategory:German terms derived from Middle High German#GUCKEN gücken, guggen (“to look inquisitively, peek, peer”), of uncertainCategory:German terms with unknown etymologies#GUCKEN origin. Perhaps from a specialised use of Middle High GermanCategory:German terms derived from Middle High German#GUCKEN gücken, gucken (“to cuckoo, call or cry like a cuckoo”), from Old High GermanCategory:German terms inherited from Old High German#GUCKENCategory:German terms derived from Old High German#GUCKEN guckōn, gukkōn (“to cuckoo”). The pronunciation (and spelling) with k- is commonly explained as an influence of German Low GermanCategory:German terms derived from German Low German#GUCKEN kieken (from Middle Low GermanCategory:German terms derived from Middle Low German#GUCKEN kîken). Note, however, that this pronunciation reaches far to the south (compare Luxembourgish kucken and Dutch kijken).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʊkən/Category:German 2-syllable words#GUCKENCategory:German terms with IPA pronunciation#GUCKEN (commonly, northern)
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʊkən/Category:German 2-syllable words#GUCKENCategory:German terms with IPA pronunciation#GUCKEN (standard, southern)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#GUCKEN

Verb

gucken (weak, third-person singular present guckt, past tense guckte, past participle geguckt, auxiliary haben)Category:German lemmas#GUCKENCategory:German verbs#GUCKENCategory:German weak verbs#GUCKENCategory:German verbs using haben as auxiliary#GUCKENCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#GUCKENCategory:Pages with entries#GUCKENCategory:Pages with 1 entry#GUCKEN

1. (colloquialCategory:German colloquialisms#GUCKEN) to look, to direct one's gaze at something

   Synonyms: schauen, sehen, hinsehen, betrachten, ansehen

   • 1960, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Der Strohhalm:

     Ich kann in die Stadt gehen und mich irgendwo hinsetzen und in die Luft gucken.

     I can go into town and sit myself down somewhere and stare into space.

     Category:German terms with quotations#GUCKEN

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
2. (colloquialCategory:German colloquialisms#GUCKEN) to watch, to direct one's gaze at something for some time
3. (copulativeCategory:German copulative verbs#GUCKEN, colloquialCategory:German colloquialisms#GUCKEN) to look, to have a certain facial expression

   Synonym: aussehen

   Warum guckst du so traurig? ― Why are you looking so sad?Category:German terms with usage examples#GUCKEN

Further reading

• “gucken”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎ (in German)
• “gucken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “gucken” in Duden online
• “gucken” in OpenThesaurus.de