hit between the eyes

Idioms  

1. Make someone suddenly aware of something, have a sudden impact on. For example, News of their divorce hit me right between the eyes. [Colloquial; early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Chiefs coaches have devised drills to work on them so that his receivers won’t get hit between the eyes by a ball they don’t see coming.

From Washington Post

One, Nicholas Slatten, was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in what jurors found was the premeditated shooting of a medical student hit between the eyes.

From Washington Post

Even if you manage to pause your constant grief, you're hit between the eyes with another statistic, another story.

From Salon

Police in riot gear shot tear gas and projectiles at protesters, hospitalizing one 59-year-old woman who was hit between the eyes by what appeared to be a beanbag round.

From Los Angeles Times

“I dove in, spoke to some smart people. But then, I was hit between the eyes that there wasn’t a lot that I was going to be able to do.”

From New York Times