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Synonyms

teary-eyed

American  
[teer-ee-ahyd] / ˈtɪər iˌaɪd /

adjective

  1. with tears welling up in one's eyes.

    teary-eyed mourners.

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.

In one TV interview, a teary-eyed Tim said that “Sam was flying just the way he was supposed to.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

The camera continued to pan over to teary-eyed Kelly and Sharon Osbourne, wife and daughter of the Black Sabbath frontman, who attended the ceremony.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2026

Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan's only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.

From Barron's • Jan. 25, 2026

And again when, teary-eyed in her news conference, she joked that her way of dealing with the defeat was to eat a chocolate bar in the locker room.

From BBC • Jul. 4, 2025

His voice cracked, and Jason could tell the guy was about to get teary-eyed.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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.