eye contact

American  

noun

1. the act of looking directly into another's eyes.

   We never made eye contact at any time during the interview.

2. Psychology. a meeting of the eyes of two persons, regarded as a meaningful nonverbal form of communication.

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eye contact British  

noun

1. a direct look between two people; meeting of eyes

   he maintained eye contact with his interrogator

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Etymology

Origin of eye contact

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Executives from AI interview platforms say the systems generally don’t score job candidates based on eye contact or facial expressions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

She advises thinking about the small things such as eye contact or touch that you can do with the time you have in the day together to make you feel like a couple again.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026

Some sipped coffees, and looked around, avoided eye contact, and waited.

From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026

This work builds on Lipson's long-running effort to help robots form more natural connections with people by learning facial behaviors such as smiling, eye contact, and speech.

From Science Daily • Jan. 16, 2026

I looked around, making eye contact with every one of my sisters.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall