eyeopener

[ ahy-oh-puh-ner ]

See synonyms for: eyeopener eyeopeners on Thesaurus.com

noun

an experience or disclosure that gives one a sudden realization or understanding: Her disclosures about her childhood were a real eyeopener.
a drink of liquor taken early in the day and intended to wake a person up fully.

Origin of eyeopener

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20; eye + opener

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use eyeopener in a sentence

This attack, coming just days after the PlayStation DDoS, was certainly an eye-opener.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet | Marc Rogers | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But to have a respected party voice like Ayres assess the situation so harshly has got to be an eye-opener.
GOP Pollster: Party Running Out of White Voters | Howard Kurtz | December 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
“That was the eye opener for us—how widely brain regions are connected to one another” in the depressed patients, he said.
Depression Is Linked to Hyperconnectivity of Brain Regions, a New Study Shows | Casey Schwartz | February 21, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
No doubt, missionary life was an eye-opener for the privileged young Mitt.
Mitt Romney's 'Missionary in France' Tale Won't Make Us Forget He's Rich | Michelle Cottle | December 15, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
They had never seen me really dressed up before; Barney said it was an eye-opener.
Children of the Whirlwind | Leroy Scott

I told him that if he had used a little skunk eye-opener, he probably would have seen some deer.
Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper | Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock
He would also have poured down an eye-opener consisting of half a water glass of fine Champagne brandy.
The Eyes Have It | Gordon Randall Garrett
Three cards is too much to hold out on smart men, as a 'full' is too big to be held often without acting as an eye-opener.
Sharps and Flats | John Nevil Maskelyne
It'll be an eye-opener to the enemy to discover us gone when the flames die down.
Under the Chinese Dragon | F. S. Brereton

British Dictionary definitions for eye-opener

eye-opener

nouninformal

something startling or revealing
US and Canadian an alcoholic drink taken early in the morning

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

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