eyesight
Americannoun
-
the power or faculty of seeing.
-
the act or fact of seeing.
-
the range of the eye.
to come within eyesight.
noun
Etymology
Origin of eyesight
Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; see origin at eye, sight
Explanation
Your eyesight is your vision, or ability to see. If your eyesight isn't perfect, you can correct it using glasses or contact lenses. Most (but not all) animals have eyesight, or the ability to perceive things using eyes. The exceptions are a few nocturnal or underground animals, and those whose eyes or nervous systems are damaged. Eyesight is an amazing sense, giving the average person the ability to distinguish between millions of colors and focus on more than 50 objects per second. The word eyesight was used by 1200, making it about a century older than the word vision.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Though often confined to a wheelchair, his eyesight failing, he managed to imbue everything he did with the same urgency and ebullience that had marked his work for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
He then discovered he had suffered multiple strokes which affected his eyesight.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
“While they have excellent eyesight during the day, eagles do not have good night vision.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Brown’s lawyers, in their bail request, said he has health issues—including a heart aneurysm, as well as poor eyesight and hearing—that meant “he cannot get behind the steering wheel of a plane ever again.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
“I’m about to lose my eyesight and she can’t handle it.”
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
