gooseberry eye
- noun
- UK
:
mirada de desdén
- She gave him a gooseberry eye when he arrived late.
Examples
-
She gave her coworker a gooseberry eye when he interrupted her presentation.
-
He shot her a gooseberry eye after she made an inappropriate comment.
-
I noticed the teacher throwing a gooseberry eye at the chattering students.
-
Whenever he heard gossip, he would glance over with a gooseberry eye.
-
Did you see her gooseberry eyes when he mentioned the party?
-
I noticed the teacher throwing a gooseberry eye at the chattering students.
-
She gave her coworker a gooseberry eye when he interrupted her presentation.
Synonyms
15
3.9
An angry look that shows you do not like something
10
2.8
A look that shows dislike or anger
9
5.5
A look on the face that shows you do not respect someone
2
7.4
A fierce look that shows anger or dislike
2
4.6
A fixed unfriendly look that shows anger or disapproval
2
3.1
A serious face that shows someone is unhappy or strict
1
3.9
A facial expression showing surprise or doubt when one brow lifts
1
7.4
Looking sideways in a way that shows doubt or envy
A look that shows jealousy or anger
A look with eyebrows pulled together and lips pressed to show disapproval
A cold unfriendly look someone gives to show dislike
A hard, cold look that shows no feeling
How Disapproving
Surface Forms
Morphology
gooseberry + eye
Knowing 'gooseberry' (a fruit) and 'eye' (to look) does not allow a B1 learner to infer a meaning of suspicion/jealousy/disapproval because there is no transparent compositional relation; the phrase is culturally/dialectally specific and idiomatic. The connection between the constituents and the idiomatic sense is unpredictable and not supported by common cross‑linguistic patterns, so learners would need prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom gooseberry eye may come from the sour gooseberry fruit; tasting something sour makes you pucker and squint, like a sharp, judging eye, so the phrase came to mean 'a look of suspicion, jealousy, or disapproval'.