owly

1 8.8

Having large round eyes and watching everything quietly

adjective
/ˈaʊli/

: con aspecto de búho

The teacher had an owly expression, watching us quietly as we worked on our assignments.

Examples

"And how are my boys doing?" He slapped Toni, an owly eight-year-old, with broad cheeks and a little hooked nose—his and Neda's son.

Fiction book (1998)
She gave me an owly look, her large eyes reflecting curiosity and cautiousness.
With their owly eyes, the kittens seemed to observe everything happening around them.

Synonyms

owlish

vsowly

1 7.9

Looking serious and wise, often with big round eyes

focuses on being watchful, quiet, and having large round eyes rather than wisdom

Antonyms

distracted

185 3.1

Not able to pay attention because your mind is on other things

unobservant

1 5.9

You do not notice small details around you

How Owlish

watchful

36 3.2

owly

1 8.8

quiet

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

owly positive

Morphology

owly = owl (transparent) = owl + y

Productive adjective formation from 'owl' with the suffix '-y' meaning 'like or characteristic of an owl', so the meaning is directly derivable by learners.

Etymology

Owly comes from the bird owl plus the ending -y, which makes an adjective. Owls are quiet and have big, round eyes, so owly means 'looking or behaving like an owl', that is being watchful, quiet, or wide-eyed.