right under someone's very eyes
- idiom
- Informal
:
justo ante los ojos de alguien
- They managed to switch the files right under his very eyes, and he didn’t notice a thing.
Examples
-
The painting was stolen right under the guards' very eyes during the crowded exhibition.
-
The keys disappeared right under my very eyes, and I still don’t know how.
-
I can't believe he did that right under her very eyes.
-
How could they lie right under our very eyes?
-
The thief stole her bag right under her very eyes while she was talking on the phone.
-
He cheated on the exam right under the teacher's very eyes, and no one noticed.
-
The children played tricks right under their parents' very eyes without them realizing.
Synonyms
104
2.5
In public and not hidden so other people can see or hear
38
2.7
Easily seen because it is not hidden
36
3.7
In an open and public way
12
4.9
Very close and easy to see but not noticed
2
4.8
Easy to see but not noticed because it looks ordinary
1
6.4
Happens very near someone when they do not notice
Antonyms
How Obvious
- Informal
38
2.7
11
1.0
57
2.5
125
1.1
12
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
right + under + someone's + very + eye
The meaning is directly built from literal spatial and perceptual words: 'under' + 'someone's eyes' conveys something occurring within a person's sight and 'right'/'very' simply intensify immediacy. This spatial-to-observation mapping is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Right under someone's very eyes comes from the simple image of something happening just below where someone is looking — literally under their eyes. That's why the phrase means 'happening openly and not being noticed or stopped by the people who are there'.