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Showing results for popeyed. Search instead for preyed.

popeyed

American  
[pop-ahyd] / ˈpɒpˌaɪd /

adjective

  1. marked by bulging, staring eyes.

    a young boy popeyed with excitement.


popeyed British  
/ ˈpɒpˌaɪd /

adjective

  1. having bulging prominent eyes

  2. staring in astonishment; amazed

"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

Etymology

Origin of popeyed

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25; pop 1 + eyed

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

My popeyed thoughts throughout “Also a Poet” were mainly: How can Schjeldahl not be suing Calhoun for defamation?

From Washington Post • Jun. 17, 2022

Within a few years, the anxious, frizzy-haired, popeyed Mr. Wilder had become an unlikely movie star.

From New York Times • Aug. 29, 2016

The deceased's fussy, self-centered, popeyed widow is a Loretta Devine part; Loretta Devine nails it with the laid-back brio of Thelma Ritter playing her 385th wisecracking best friend.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2010

There were a couple of seagoing prep-school boys, Al, an amateur boxer whose short upper lip made Sculptor Slobodkin distrust him, and Mush, who was unpleasantly popeyed.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were popeyed to be so near the Rebs.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

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