bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

Idioms  

1. Eager and alert, as in Here is my new kindergarten class, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The allusion here is to the appearance of a squirrel, which with its beady eyes and bushy tail looks ready for anything. [1930s]

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Example Sentences

I do think a lot of times female protagonists have been very young and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and very plucky.

From Salon

I do think a lot of times female protagonists have been very young and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and very plucky.

From Salon

Obviously with Marge, you can tell she’s somebody who is kind of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and finds herself in this place and hasn’t had a lot of experience.

From Los Angeles Times

Not many of Bridges’ students, for instance, are as “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” as she was in her first year.

From Slate

"I had no clue what was going on. I was just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and thought whatever my manager suggested I'd roll with."

From BBC

Related Words

• bouncy
• bright
• bubbly
• cheerful
• cheery
• jaunty
• lively
• sunny