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Glite Dictionary
👀 Small and shiny 💎 With beads
beady

beady

13 5.1
Having small round shiny eyes that look watchful
  • adjective
  • /ˈbiːdi/
translation icon : 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

beadlike
vsbeady
3.2

Small, round and shiny like a bead

implies watchfulness or intensity rather than mere appearance
buttonlike
vsbeady
4.8

Small, round, and shiny like a button

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

Small, round, and shiny like a button

is the neutral descriptor that also suggests watchful intensity

Compounds

beady-eyed
2 7.4

Having small round shiny eyes that look suspicious

How Shiny

sparkling
5 1.3
shiny
302 1.0
beady
13 5.1
dull
31 1.0
matte
2 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.