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Glite Dictionary
dry-eyed

dry-eyed

2 5.8
Not crying or showing any tears
  • adjective
  • /draɪ aɪd/
translation icon : sin lágrimas
  • His face was pale, but he was dry-eyed.
  • remained dry-eyed
  • sits dry-eyed
  • nods, dry-eyed

Having lost a friend, you should not be dry eyed, but neither should you drown in weeping.

Examples

  • Elizabeth is a recent widow, pale and dry-eyed, unable to cry.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Even during the emotional scenes in the movie, she sat dry-eyed, showing no sign of tears.

  • At least the sky will cry, Louise thought, still dry-eyed and tall.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • But eventually she thought of it neutrally, dry-eyed; almost with wonder.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Despite the deep sadness in her voice as she told him the story, she'd remained dry-eyed.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "We nodded, dry-eyed this close to the end."

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I defy anyone to remain dry-eyed in that scene.

    Blog text (11)

  • Jane returns dry-eyed from the bathroom and apologizes again.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • And there was Alan, dry-eyed and cool-looking, extending his hand for a cup of coffee.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • There were tears on nearly everyone's part, but Jackie was dry-eyed.

    Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

tearless
vsdry-eyed
1 4.6

Not crying or showing any tears

is the same meaning but usually written with a hyphen

Antonyms

tearful
26 1.8

Showing you are about to cry because of a strong feeling

How Tearful

tearful
26 1.8
dry-eyed
2 5.8

Surface Forms

dry-eyed positive

Morphology

dry-eyed = dry + eyed (transparent) = dry + eyed

Formed by the clear compound pattern 'X-eyed' where 'dry' modifies 'eyed' to mean 'having dry eyes' (not crying).

Etymology

The word dry-eyed joins dry ('not wet') and eye, so it literally means 'without tears'. That's why someone who is dry-eyed does not cry or show any tears.