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blear-eyed

blear-eyed

9.1
Eyes that look tired and blurred from lack of sleep
  • adjective
  • /blɪrˈaɪd/
translation icon : con los ojos nublados
  • The children looked blear-eyed after staying up late to watch movies.

Examples

  • After a long night of studying, I woke up feeling blear-eyed and exhausted.

  • Korlac looked blear-eyed, but he was sober.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • She arrived at the meeting blear-eyed from a lack of sleep the night before.

Synonyms

bleary
vsblear-eyed
9 6.8

Your eyes look blurred and tired because you did not sleep

focuses on eyes that look tired, dim, or blurred rather than only vision blur
bleary-eyed
vsblear-eyed
5 5.3

Having eyes that look tired from not enough sleep

stresses tired, dim, or blurred look rather than just sleepiness
sleepy-eyed
vsblear-eyed
1 4.0

Having eyes that look tired and like you want to close them

describes tired, dim, or blurred eye appearance rather than just drowsiness
bleared
vsblear-eyed
7.4

Having eyes that do not see clearly because they are tired or have tears

focuses on tired, dim, or blurred eyes mainly from lack of sleep or exhaustion
blear
vsblear-eyed
9.9

Having eyes that look tired and cloudy

highlights eyes that look tired, dim, or blurred, not general tired appearance
glazed
vsblear-eyed
5.8

Having eyes that look dull and do not show emotion

refers to tired, dim, or blurred appearance caused by exhaustion not emotional blankness

How Tired

bloodshot
6 3.5
blear-eyed
9.1
sleepy-eyed
1 4.0
clear-eyed
7 5.6

Surface Forms

blear-eyed positive

Morphology

blear-eyed = bleary (transparent) = blear + eyed

Formation from 'bleary' (or verb 'blear') + '-eyed' clearly yields 'having blurred/tired eyes', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

The word blear-eyed comes from the old word blear, which meant 'dim' or 'sore' eyes. So, blear-eyed means having tired, blurred eyes after little sleep, like when your eyes feel sore and watery.