to catch someone's eye

Examples

• All

• Different items will catch students' eyes as they go through this process.

  Academic text (1993)

• His hand had been in the air to catch the waiter's eye while she was talking.

  Fiction book (1995)

• Then, suddenly, something catches Jim's eye - he tracks it across the room.

  Fiction book (1995)

• Scarlett tried to catch Jamie's eye, failed, and finally called out to get his attention.

  Fiction book (1991)

• A glimmer of pink under a bush caught Elizabeth's eye.

  Fiction book (2000)

• Lando waited until everyone had been served, took a bite of steak, and caught Wendy's eye.

  Fiction book (1991)

• A brief flicker of black on the opposite staircase caught Trina's eye.

  Fiction book (2000)

• The limo guys nod to Chili, and Chili nods back, trying to catch Harry's eye.

  Fiction book (1995)

• The vibrant colors of the painting really caught someone's eye at the gallery.

• Her unique hairstyle always catches people's eyes when she walks into a room.

Synonyms

A

to attract

vsto catch someone's eye

936 1.9

Make people notice or want something

is narrower stressing being unusual or specially noticeable to draw notice

A

to appeal

vsto catch someone's eye

257 3.1

Be attractive or interesting to someone

depends more on being unusually noticeable to catch immediate notice

D

to draw attention

vsto catch someone's eye

152 2.5

To make people notice something or someone

relies more on being striking or unusual to catch attention

I

to intrigue

vsto catch someone's eye

142 5.1

To make someone curious or interested

focuses on being noticeable or unusual to first draw attention

C

to call attention

vsto catch someone's eye

52 2.9

To make people notice something important

depends more on the thing itself being striking or unusual without prompting

F

to fascinate

vsto catch someone's eye

51 3.4

To attract and hold someone's strong interest or attention

starts with an immediate striking quality that first attracts notice

S

to stick out

vsto catch someone's eye

42 3.0

To be easy to notice because it is different

adds that the difference is often interesting or unusual to attract attention

C

to catch someone's attention

vsto catch someone's eye

38 2.8

Make someone notice you or something

is more about being unusual or especially noticeable to draw attention

J

to jump out

vsto catch someone's eye

31 3.4

Easy to notice because it looks different or bright

also stresses being striking but with an added sense of being interesting

C

to captivate

vsto catch someone's eye

28 4.2

To attract and hold someone's full attention

begins with being noticeable or unusual to get initial attention

P

to pique

vsto catch someone's eye

24 4.7

To make someone want to know more

is more about being noticeably odd or striking to attract attention

C

to capture attention

vsto catch someone's eye

23 3.2

To attract and keep people's interest

aims more at first notice through novelty or distinctiveness

G

to grab someone's attention

vsto catch someone's eye

23 3.3

Make someone notice something quickly and feel interested

is similar but focuses on being interesting or unusual rather than sudden force

T

to turn heads

vsto catch someone's eye

• Informal

22 4.4

To attract a lot of attention because of how you look or what you wear

is similar but centers on being striking or unusual, not just admiration

G

to gain attention

vsto catch someone's eye

16 3.0

To get noticed and make people interested

is more about sudden or striking notice from distinct qualities

R

to ring someone's bell

vsto catch someone's eye

• Informal

12 8.2

To strongly attract or excite someone

is similar but focuses on noticeable oddness rather than emotional excitement

C

to command attention

vsto catch someone's eye

10 3.9

To make people look at or listen to you

often comes from being simply noticeable or unusually interesting rather than authority

L

to leap out

vsto catch someone's eye

4 3.9

To be very noticeable and attract attention

is similar but emphasizes being unusual or attention grabbing in style

A

to arouse interest

vsto catch someone's eye

2 3.8

To make someone feel curious about something and want to know more

relies more on visible distinctiveness to pull initial notice

S

to seduce an audience

vsto catch someone's eye

1 6.7

Make an audience like you and pay close attention

is more about being visually or unusually noticeable to grab attention

T

to turn someone's head

vsto catch someone's eye

1 4.9

Make people notice you because they admire or are surprised by you

leans more on being noticeably unusual or interesting rather than general admiration

S

to snag one's attention

vsto catch someone's eye

4.4

Make someone notice something

is more specific about being unusual or particularly noticeable to attract notice

Antonyms

O

to overlook

205 2.9

To not notice someone or something you should see

How Noticeable

to dazzle

50 4.1

to stand out

253 3.2

to catch someone's eye

103 2.7

to draw

859 2.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology