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Synonyms

wide-eyed

American  
[wahyd-ahyd] / ˈwaɪdˌaɪd /

adjective

  1. with the eyes open wide, as in amazement, innocence, or sleeplessness.


wide-eyed British  

adjective

  1. innocent or credulous

"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 wide-eyed

First recorded in 1850–55

Vocabulary lists containing wide-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:

Without us, there is no one to hoist blame upon when the film reveals its layers, no one to compare to the film’s wide-eyed spectators of global collapse.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Thomasin McKenzie plays a young woman, Alyce, steeped in her own trauma and loss, who attaches herself to the ploughman, and her ability to express wide-eyed, barely contained hysteria and fear is unmatched.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

The elderly grimace, hobbling on crutches, and wide-eyed children stare, cradling chickens carried from homes they were forced to leave behind.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

She performed with Nureyev for Queen Elizabeth II. A personal highlight was dancing alongside her idol, Margot Fonteyn, who she had first seen perform as a wide-eyed 20-year-old in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Most of the kids sat in wide-eyed astonishment.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

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