black eye

American  

noun

black eyes plural

1. discoloration of the skin around the eye, resulting from a blow, bruise, etc.

2. a mark of shame, dishonor, etc..

   These slums are a black eye to our town.

3. damaged reputation.

   Your behavior will give the family a black eye.

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black eye British  

noun

1. bruising round the eye

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black eye Idioms  

1. A mark of shame, a humiliating setback, as in That there are enough homeless folks to need another shelter is a black eye for the administration. This metaphor alludes to having discolored flesh around the eye resulting from a blow. The term is also used literally, as in The mugger not only took Bill's wallet but gave him a black eye. [Late 1800s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black eyes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of black eye

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

That naturally contributes to the fund’s volatility, and in the past led to a significant black eye.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

“I’m not looking to change the face of rock and roll,” Garcia said, “but maybe we’ll put a couple stitches in, give it a black eye, so to speak.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

But when the office market crashed during the pandemic, Breit became a black eye for Blackstone and a sore spot with its investors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

The retraction is also a black eye for the Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks and financial regulators that incorporated the study’s projections into its bank climate stress test scenarios.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025

Most startling of all, a splendid dark cartoon of a black eye was stamped in a ring on my eye socket, in the richest inks of Tyrian, chartreuse, and plum.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt