side-eye

[ sahyd-ahy ]

noun

a sidelong look used to express contempt, criticism, suspicion, curiosity, or doubt: Family holidays—the perfect time to face intrusive questions and the side-eye your great-aunt gives you at the dinner table.I don't want to eat at a restaurant where we'll be getting the side-eye all night for having a baby in tow.

verb (used with or without object)

to express contempt, criticism, suspicion, curiosity, or doubt with or as if with a sidelong look: Two things make me side-eye this story: the improbable plot and the unbelievable ending.Don't side-eye just yet, let me explain.

Origin of side-eye

First recorded in 1825–30

From the moment the word was out that Fluke was considering a run for office, she was the subject of right-wing side-eye.
Sandra Fluke, Still Under Attack, Heads to California General Election | Olivia Nuzzi | June 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The candidate gives them serious side-eye, and begins pacing nervously around the room.
Inside ‘Mitt,’ Netflix’s All-Access Mitt Romney Documentary | Marlow Stern | January 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
“A show like this can make people embrace you more or give you the side eye,” Chilli says.
15 Years of ‘Behind the Music’: Best Moments (Video) | Kevin Fallon | October 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Not a boy in the school missed seeing how Boddy's flat head perpetually had a side-eye on him.
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete | George Meredith
My grandfather turned a round side-eye on me, hard as a cock's.
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete | George Meredith

Ned winked his near side eye and thought they had better let the matter slide.
Settling Day | Nat Gould

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