to give the glad eye
- idiom
- NSFW
:
echar el ojo
- He was clearly giving the glad eye to his coworker at the party.
Examples
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She noticed him give the glad eye to every woman who walked into the bar.
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He gave the glad eye to her across the room.
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If you give the glad eye to strangers, don’t be surprised if someone approaches you.
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Did she give the glad eye to anyone at the party?
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At the bar, he couldn't help giving the glad eye to the beautiful woman sitting alone.
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If you give the glad eye to someone at a dance, you might invite them to join you.
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She saw him give the glad eye to her friend, making her feel a bit jealous.
Synonyms
267
3.1
Behave playfully or tease someone to show romantic interest
152
4.8
To look closely at someone with interest
20
7.4
To look at someone in a rude way that makes them feel uncomfortable
7
7.9
To look at someone in a strong, often sexual way that may make them feel uncomfortable
4
5.6
To close one eye briefly to show playful interest
3
8.4
Look at someone in a way that shows romantic or sexual interest
2
8.1
Look at someone to show romantic or sexual interest
To move your eyelashes quickly in a playful way to get what you want
To look at someone in a way that shows sexual interest as if they have no clothes
Looking at someone in a rude, sexual way that makes them feel uncomfortable
Antonyms
How Flirtatious
Surface Forms
Morphology
There is partial compositionality: 'give' + 'eye' can be interpreted as 'direct a look' since 'eye' is sometimes used metaphorically for 'glance', so a learner might guess it involves looking. However, the specific sense 'look with sexual attraction' (and the use of 'glad' to signal flirtation) is conventionalized and not reliably derivable from the literal meanings, so most B1 learners who only know the constituents would not predict the idiomatic flirtatious sense.
Etymology
The phrase give the glad eye may come from the simple image of someone giving a glad eye — a happy, pleased look given to another person. So, to give the glad eye means to 'flirt' or 'show sexual attraction' because that look shows interest.