hollow-eyed
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hollow-eyed
First recorded in 1520–30
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.
The pictures show a pallid, hollow-eyed man, resembling Poe, who’s sitting by the fire in his dressing gown when there comes a gentle “rapping, rapping” at the door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
At the Minsk airport, Iraqi families slumped hollow-eyed in seats as the plane was delayed several hours.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2021
Republican Richard Nixon, who had been sick and in the hospital, looked hollow-eyed and had a five o’clock shadow.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 26, 2020
The hollow-eyed man on the fishing boat calls the water “the sea of the dead.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2020
The white citizens of Richmond, tight-lipped and hollow-eyed, take it all in.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
![]()
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.