beady-eyed
Americanadjective
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marked by or having small, glittering eyes, especially eyes that seem to gleam with malice, avarice, or lechery.
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staring with suspicion, skepticism, etc..
The gambler gave the newcomer a beady-eyed look.
Etymology
Origin of beady-eyed
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
"Should I feel anything?" asks the beady-eyed man, sitting in a padded cell with handcuffs around his wrists.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
These beady-eyed amphibians can be found on the banks of noisy streams throughout China, where the rapids would drown out ordinary croaks and chirps.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 11, 2024
But numbers of the craggy, beady-eyed amphibians have plummeted in recent decades, with only about 126 streams now harboring healthy populations—and scientists didn't know why.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2023
The Hollywood Reporter characterized the portrayal as “a creepy beady-eyed lech peering out from under a mountain of latex.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2023
If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn’t be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
