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Glite Dictionary
👀 Small and shiny 💎 With beads
beady

beady

17 5.1
Having small round shiny eyes that look watchful
  • adjective
  • /ˈbiːdi/
: pequeño y brillante
  • The first bird was mottled gray and brown with beady eyes like drops of melted chocolate.

So I drew beady eyes and a sharp beak,

Examples

  • There is a look of hopelessness in their beady black eyes.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I can feel their little beady eyes on me.

    Camp Cool Kids (2017)

  • I also bring beady eyes and hard questions.

    Poor Things (2023)

  • Something about those beady little eyes.

    Virus X (2010)

  • I love her beady eyes.

    The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)

  • I looked him right in his beady eyes.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • A narrow snout appeared, topped by a pair of bright, beady eyes.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • English Bob has beady blue eyes, is about thirty-five, and pulls constantly on a good cigar.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The baby gator stared at me with its beady little eyes, which glowed red in the reflection of Grandpa's headlamp.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I could see his beady eyes watching me closely from the shadows.

Synonyms

buttonlike
vsbeady
1 4.8

Small, round, and shiny like a button

adds a sense of watchful intensity beyond crafted appearance
buttony
vsbeady
1 8.4

Small, round, and shiny like a button

is the neutral descriptor that also suggests watchful intensity
beadlike
vsbeady
1 3.2

Small, round and shiny like a bead

implies watchfulness or intensity rather than mere appearance

Compounds

beady-eyed
14 7.4

Having small round shiny eyes that look suspicious

How Shiny

sparkling
33 1.3
shiny
304 1.0
beady
17 5.1
dull
30 1.0
matte
19 3.5

Surface Forms

beady positive

Morphology

beady = bead (semi-transparent) = bead + y

The core sense 'small and round' is derived from 'bead' + '-y', but the additional connotation of watchfulness or intensity in 'beady eyes' is a pragmatic extension not strictly predictable from the components.

Etymology

Beady comes from the word bead, a small round object, so imagine an eye like a tiny bead that is 'small and round' and a little 'shiny', which is why beady describes eyes that look very watchful or intense.