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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.

See Examples For:

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

But this time his wall is a hundred thousand movie screens, his performance is distinctly more artistic, and his audience is the popeyed world.

From Time Magazine Archive

He looked like a popeyed bird who had just swallowed something large and sticky and triangular.

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

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