Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for bright-eyed. Search instead for brighteyed.
Synonyms

bright-eyed

American  
[brahyt-ahyd] / ˈbraɪtˌaɪd /

adjective

  1. having bright eyes.

  2. alertly eager.


idioms

  1. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, alertly eager; full of energy and enthusiasm.

    Get a good night's sleep so you'll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.

bright-eyed British  

adjective

  1. eager; fresh and enthusiastic

  2. informal keen, confident, and alert

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bright-eyed

First recorded in 1585–95

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.

See Examples For:

It was a rare reciprocal relationship in an interaction otherwise distorted by fame—we loved her because she was Gloria Steinem, and she loved us because we were bright-eyed young women.

From Slate Sep. 3, 2026

"Half past one, I was still awake, all still bright-eyed, and kind of bushy-tailed, and then I went horizontal and dozed off," she recalled.

From BBC Jul. 6, 2026

The first time David Byrne’s disco musical “Here Lies Love” was publicly staged at Mass MoCA in 2012, Josh Dela Cruz was a bright-eyed ensemble actor thrilled by the novelty of joining a majority-Filipino cast.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 17, 2026

Frank is the bright-eyed, mustachioed face of Christian music’s new wave: He has earned more than 1.2 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. in 2025, according to the data company Luminate.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 9, 2025

She looked up, very bright-eyed and trying to talk inconsequentially.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training