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Glite Dictionary
to roll one's eyes

to roll one's eyes

3.7
To move your eyes away from someone to show you are annoyed or do not believe them
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : poner los ojos en blanco
  • The you that I know would have walked in here and rolled your eyes, and thought this was completely over-the-top, ridiculous and stupid.

Examples

  • And don't be rolling your eyes at your father behind my back.

    Eve's Bayou (1997)

  • She rolled her eyes to show how annoyed she was with the endless discussion.

  • So I'd expect you to roll your eyes if I went and told you about a girl and her tree house in the sky.

    Love Is Blind (2019)

  • And I won't mind too much, if you just roll your eyes.

    A Dozen Summers (2015)

  • Don't you roll your eyes at me.

    The Oranges (2011)

  • One, don't roll your eyes.

    Mank (2020)

  • But when you roll your eyes, Ms. Davilla, you trivialize a team building exercise, and that divides us.

    Second Act (2018)

  • He rolled his eyes.

    To the New Girl (2020)

  • When he heard the ridiculous excuse, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

  • After listening to the same story for the fifth time, I just rolled my eyes in disbelief.

Synonyms

to shake one's head
vsto roll one's eyes
284 1.9

Move your head from side to side to show you do not agree

expresses annoyance or disbelief with eye motion instead of turning the head
to frown
vsto roll one's eyes
160 1.0

To bring the eyebrows together and wrinkle the forehead to show dislike or concentration

signals annoyance by shifting eyes instead of tightening the forehead
to scowl
vsto roll one's eyes
33 4.1

To give an angry look to show you do not like something

signals annoyance by moving eyes rather than lowering the brows
to make a face
vsto roll one's eyes
18 3.2

Move parts of your face to show dislike, pain, or to be funny

expresses disapproval by shifting the eyes instead of reshaping the face
to frown at
vsto roll one's eyes
16 2.3

Give someone a worried or angry look to show you do not like them

shows similar feeling by moving eyes rather than aiming a brow at others
to glower
vsto roll one's eyes
11 8.4

To look at someone in an angry, silent way

expresses impatience or disbelief through eye movement rather than a prolonged stare
to raise an eyebrow
vsto roll one's eyes
9 4.5

To show surprise or doubt by lifting one eyebrow

moves eyes upward or to the side to show annoyance or disbelief
to turn up one's nose
vsto roll one's eyes
3 7.5

To show you think something is not good enough

conveys contempt by moving the eyes rather than lifting the nose or lip
to pull a face
vsto roll one's eyes
  • Informal
1 5.5

Make a face to show dislike or discomfort

shows the same feeling by moving eyes rather than changing the whole face

Antonyms

to agree
∞ 1.0

Have the same opinion or say yes

How Dismissive

to sneer
39 5.6
to roll one's eyes
  • Informal
3.7
to frown
160 1.0

Surface Forms

roll one's eyes infinitive
rolled one's eyes past
rolled one's eyes past participle
rolling one's eyes present participle
rolls one's eyes third person singular

Morphology

roll + one's + eye

The combination 'roll' + 'eyes' transparently evokes a visible movement of the eyeballs, so a learner who knows both words can infer that it refers to moving one’s eyes. However, the conventional pragmatic meaning — using that eye movement to signal annoyance, disbelief, or impatience — is a conventionalized, social-pragmatic interpretation that is not fully predictable from the parts alone. Many languages have similar gesture-language pairings which may help, so the item is partly but not wholly transparent.

Etymology

Roll one's eyes comes from the simple action of turning your eyes up or to the side as if looking away. Because that small move of the eyes (to roll) shows you do not believe or like what someone said, it now means showing 'annoyance', 'disbelief', or 'impatience'.