wild-eyed
Americanadjective
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having an angry, insane, or distressed expression in the eyes.
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extremely irrational, senseless, or radical.
a wild-eyed scheme.
adjective
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glaring in an angry, distracted, or wild manner
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ill-conceived or totally impracticable
Etymology
Origin of wild-eyed
First recorded in 1810–20
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.
Few if any of even Kim Jong-un’s looniest tirades match these posts for their wild-eyed savagery.
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
But to her credit, Ms. Coon never turns the character into a wild-eyed hysteric or a manipulated figure of pure pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Looking at long-term charts of silver can be very sobering, and wild-eyed internet gurus, heavy on dark conspiracism with proclamations of $10,000 silver, are hardly reassuring.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 3, 2026
"That takes a mighty amount of wild-eyed, self-confidence and a nothing-to-lose attitude," he said of both presidents.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2025
Next to the steakhouse is a shooting gallery, where the fake guns have such poor aim that no one can hit the little bull’s-eyes attached to plastic cactuses, wild-eyed cowboy cutouts, and stuffed, patchy-haired bobcats.
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
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.
