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to feast one's eyes

to feast one's eyes

6.0
To look at something with great pleasure
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : deleitar la vista
  • At the art gallery, I couldn't help but feast my eyes on the stunning paintings.

Examples

Synonyms

to admire
vsto feast one's eyes
743 1.6

To feel respect and pleasure when you look at someone or something

expresses the same pleasure but specifically through looking at it
to gaze
vsto feast one's eyes
170 2.6

To look steadily with admiration, surprise, or deep thought

is more about joyful admiration than steady attention or thought
to feast
vsto feast one's eyes
27 3.6

To enjoy something very much with your senses, like a beautiful view

is narrower, meaning pleasure shown by looking rather than any delight
to watch in awe
vsto feast one's eyes
2 3.6

To look at something with strong admiration and surprise

focuses on pleasure and admiration rather than shocked amazement
to give the eye
vsto feast one's eyes
7.7

To look at someone with interest to judge or admire them

is a look that shows strong pleasure rather than mere appraisal

Antonyms

1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Pleasing

to feast one's eyes
  • Informal
6.0
to admire
743 1.6
to gaze
170 2.6
to look at
1.0
to notice
1.0

Surface Forms

feast one's eyes infinitive
feasted one's eyes past participle
feasting one's eyes present participle
feasts one's eyes third person singular

Morphology

feast + one + eye

The verb 'feast' can be metaphorically extended to the senses so 'feast one's eyes' plausibly means to indulge visually — the connection between 'feast' (to savor/indulge) and 'eyes' (vision) gives a clear figurative link. However, this is a conventionalized metaphor rather than a strictly compositional meaning, so learners who only know the literal food-related sense of 'feast' may not predict it immediately.

Etymology

The idiom feast one's eyes comes from the image of a big meal, where you imagine your eyes at a table happily feasting on a beautiful sight. So it means 'to look with great pleasure or admiration'.